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UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


THE  BOY  WITH   AN   IDEA 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


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THE 


Boy  with  an  Idea 


BY 

MRS.  EILOART 

AUTHOR   OF   "THE   BOYS   OP    BKECHWOOD,"    "  TOM    DUSTAn's   TROUBLES,"    ETC. 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

Zbc  fmtc&erbocker  press 
1902 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

ntroducks  the  reader  to  a  young  gentleman  with 
a  Singularly  Good  Opinion  of  Himself        .        .      9 

CHAPTER  II. 
A  New  Way  of  Bringing  Pigs  Home  from  Market    .     17 

CHAPTER   III. 
How  to  make  Old  Boots  Better  than  New. — Show- 
ing,  TOO,   THAT   IT    IS    NOT    SO    EASY    TO    STAND    ON 

One's  Dignity  when  One   has  Little  Besides  to 
Stand  on  35 

CHAPTER   IV. 
The  Great-Grandmother's  Spell. — How  Mr.  Tagart 
found  his  Boots  an  Exceedingly  Tight  Fit         .     51 

CHAPTER  V. 
How  John's   New  "  Mixture  "   turns    out  a   Better 
Thing  than  he  had  Expected        .        .        .        .60 

CHAPTER   VI. 
John's   "  Rational   Investment  "   of   Half-a-Crown.— 
How  to  Board  a  Calf 76 

JL/  JLX. 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   VII. 

PASS 

How    the    Calf    Astonished    Several    People,    and 
Martha  Astonished  Them  Still  More         .         .     91 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
How  John  was  Sent  to  School  for  his   Good. — He 
Opens   His  Mouth,   and   Makes    a   Great   Many 
People  Open  Their  Eyes 99 

CHAPTER  IX. 
How  John   Got   On   at  School. — He  does  Not  Find 
the  Boys  Quite  as  Sensible  as  he  Expected  they 
would  be. — An  Old  Couple  and  an  Old  Book    .  114 

CHAPTER  X. 
A  Joint-Stock  Concern. — How    John  Sets    his  Pot 
Boiling 123 

CHAPTER  XI. 
What  Teddy  Found  in  the  Iron  Chest,  and  What 
he   Brought   Back    in  the   Wooden   Box. — How 
John's  Pot  Boiled  Over 139 

CHAPTER  XII. 
The   Doctor  Finds  he  has  a  Troublesome  Pupil. — 
John  is  Disgusted  with  the  Ingratitude  of  his 
Friends 146 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
A  New  Way  of  Angling. — How,  in  Trying  to  Catch 

a  Duck,  John  Made  a  Goose  of  Himself       .       .154 

CHAPTER   XIV. 
A    Sensation    at    School.  —  A    Scolding  for  Teddy 
Hook,  and   another   Moonlight  Search  by  the 
Doctor 164 


CONTENTS.  7 

CHAPTER   XV. 

PAOB 

John  has  a  Long  Drive,  but  Not  a  Pleasant  one. — 
He  Makes  His  Appearance  in  a  New  Character 
at  "  The  Three  Magpies." 168 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

John  Makes  Acquaintance  with  the  Gypsies,  and   is 

Charmed  with  their  Reception   of  him        .        .  175 

CHAPTER   XVII. 

John's  New  Theory  about  Animals. — How  He  Met 
wtth  a  Monkey  that  Seemed  Untamable       .       .  /86 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 
How    John   Tried  to   Catch  a  Weasel   Asleep,  and 
Martha  Caught  Him. — An  Unpleasant  Bedfel- 
low         199 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
How  a   Bear  Finds  Himself  in   Bad   Company,  and 

the  Village  is  Scared  out  of  its  Propriety       .  206 

CHAPTER  XX. 
A    New    Field    of  Action   for  John. — His   First  Im- 
pressions OF  WOODHURST  .  .  .  .  .2  24 

CHAPTER   XXI. 
John    Meets    an    Old    Friend. — How   between   them 

They  Astonish  the  Natives 233 

CHAPTER   XXII. 

John  Walks  over  to  Fellrow,  and  Unfolds  his  Last 

"  Idea  "  to  Ted         . 250 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

FAGB 

John   Matures    His    Scheme. — How    the    Coal-Holk 
has  a  Cooling  Effect  upon  Ted  .         .         .  265 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 
How    John    and    Ted    were    Electrified   instead    ok 
Electrifying 271; 

CONCLUSION. 
How  John  Missed  his  Footing  and  Found  his  Senses  287 


THE   BOY  WITH   AN  IDEA 


CHAPTER   I. 

INTRODUCES   THE  READER  TO    A    YOUNG    GENTLEMAN  WITB 
A    SINGULARLY    GOOD    OPINION    OF    HIMSELF. 

T  SHOULD  have  liked  you  to  have  known  him!  He 
■*•  was  a  nice  boy,  very !  You  would  have  said  so  if  you 
had  had  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance,  particularly  if 
you  were  of  a  quiet  turn  of  mind,  liked  everything  to  go  on 
in  regular  jog-trot  style,  hated  new  notions,  and  detested 
being  disturbed  in  your  old-fashioned  ways  and  ideas ;  for, 
whatever  your  own  opinion  on  any  particular  subject  might 
be,  and  whatever  grounds  you  might  have  for  believing  it 
as  a  correct  one,  and  based  on  as  sound  and  satisfactory 
reasons  as  any  opinion  could  possibly  be,  he  would  very 
coolly  attempt  to  confute  it  with  some  crotchet  of  his  own, 
lolding  forth  some  newfangled  way  o'  doing  a  thing  that 
ever)-  one  knew  had  been  done  in  quite  a  different  mannei 
for  perhaps  a  hundred  years  past,  letting  you  see  plainl) 


IO  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

that  he  thought  no  method  could  be  so  good  as  his  own 
looking  all  the  time  as  wise  as  if  he  were  Solomon  himself, 
and  I  really  believe  thinking  himself  a  great  deal  wiser; 
and,  whatever  the  subject  might  be,  generally  opening  his 
own  views  upon  it  with  a  pet  expression  of  his,  "  I've  got 
an  idea !  " 

His  name  was  John  Ashdell.  John ! — it's  a  goc  d,  solid, 
steady-sounding  old  English  name.  You  would  not  expect 
it  to  belong  to  a  lad  who  was  full  of  the  flightiest,  wildest, 
most  out-of-the-way  notions  that  ever  entered  the  head  of 
a  boy,  or  man  either.  John ! — every  letter  seems  full  of 
common  sense,  and  thorough-going,  straightforward  prac- 
tical ways ;  but  there  was  not  much  common  sense  about 
John  ;  indeed,  I  think  he  would  have  rather  disdained  such 
an  ordinary,  every-day  quality ;  and,  as  to  anything  prac- 
tical, if  once  you  had  attempted  to  carry  one  of  John's  ideas 
into  execution,  you  would  have  known  better  than  to  have 
expected  anything  of  the  sort  from  him.  But  I  don't  want 
you  to  think  that  he  was  a  bad  boy,  or  an  idle  one  either ; 
and  certainly  he  had  no  want  of  brains.  He  was  thorough- 
ly kind-hearted  and  good-tempered,  and,  so  far  from  being 
lazy,  if  he  had  taken  half  the  pains  to  do  things  in  the  ordi- 
nary ways  that  were  good  enough  for  other  people,  that  he 
did  to  try  and  do  them  in  some  newfangled  manner  of  his 
own,  he  would  have  accomplished  more  work  than  half  the 
boys  of  his  age ;  while  as  to  abilities,  he  had  plenty  of 
them,  almost  too  many,  only  he  never  seemed  to  know 
how  to  put  them  to  a  good  use,  letting  his  imagination  run 


INTRODUCES    THE    READER.  \\ 

away  with  him,  in  fact,  and  lead  him  to  do  all  sorts  of  al> 
surd  and  ridiculous  things,  just  because  he  considered  he 
was  much  too  clever  to  do  anything  like  anybody  else. 

I  am  afraid  John's  mother  spoiled  him,  as  mothers  do 
spoil  their  boys  at  times,  especially  when  they've  only  one, 
and  he  is  bright  and  clever,  and  nice-looking,  and  very  like 
his  father,  dead  and  gone  years  past;  and  John  was  all 
this,  so  perhaps  it  is  not  much  to  be  wondered  at  if  Mrs. 
Ashdell  let  him  have  his  own  way,  and  follow  out  his  own 
ideas,  a  great  deal  more  than  was  desirable  either  for  her- 
self or  for  him.  She  was  not  the  only  one  who  spoiled  him 
though  ;  his  grandmother  was  always  ready  to  help  when  - 
ever  she  had  an  opportunity ;  and,  though  Master  John's 
whims  had  given  them  both  so  much  trouble,  he  had  such 
a  wonderful  flow  of  words,  such  astonishing  boldness  of 
conception,  and  such  promptitude  in  carrying  out  his 
schemes,  that  I  really  think  they  both  believed  him  to  be 
the  cleverest  boy  in  the  world. 

John  and  his  mother  resided  in  a  pretty  village  about 
ten  miles  from  London.  Mrs.  Ashdell's  cottage  was  one 
of  a  few  nice,  cosy  little  places,  just  large  enough  for  com- 
fort, and  not  large  enough  for  show,  with  climbing  plants 
over  their  porches  and  verandas,  and  bright,  trim  flower- 
gardens  before  them,  that  faced  the  highroad  to  London. 
The  cosiest  and  brightest  of  all,  was  Mrs.  Ashdell's.  She 
was  very  fond  of  flowers,  and  even  in  spite  of  all  John's 
"  ideas  "  on  the  subject,  reared  some  very  beautiful  ones. 
How  she  would  have  succeeded,  if  it  had  not  been  for  old 


12  THE    BCY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

Tillsen  the  gardener's  great  persistence  in  turning  a  deal 
ear  to  all  John's  theories  about  horticulture,  is  doubtful, 
for  he  certainly  had  very  peculiar  notions  of  his  own  on  the 
subject ;  but  Tillsen  never  heeded  them.  He  had  been 
the  gardener-in-chief  to  all  the  better-class  houses,  whose 
owners  did  not  keep  gardeners  of  their  own,  for  years  past, 
and  was  quite  in  the  right  in  considering  he  knew  his  own 
business  a  great  deal  too  well  for  John  to  teach  it  to  him 
John's  grandmother  lived  about  half-a-mile  off,  and,  when- 
ever he  could  find  nobody  else  to  listen  to  the  details  of 
his  last  new  scheme,  he  would  run  off  to  her ;  for  the  old 
lady's  belief  in  him  was  unbounded,  and  her  patience  with 
his  failures  untiring.  She  took  his  part  stoutly  against 
Uncle  George,  who  by  no  means  thought  John  so  great  a 
genius  as  he  was  in  his  own  eyes,  and  who  seldom  missed 
an  opportunity  of  telling  him  as  much. 

Uncle  George  lived  in  a  pleasant,  roomy  house  at  the 
end  of  the  village,  with  his  wife  and  half-a-dozen  children. 
He  was  a  builder,  carpenter,  etc.,  and  very  comfortably  off, 
wifth  a  thriving  business,  which  gave  him  plenty  to  do. 
There  was  a  nice,  bright,  well-kept  bit  of  flower-garden 
before  his  house,  a  large  piece  for  vegetables  at  the  back, 
and  beyond,  a  small  orchard.  On  one  side  of  the  house 
was  a  paddock,  where  the  two  horses  required  in  the  busi- 
ness grazed  in  company  with  the  one  cow  that  supplied  the 
family  with  milk  and  butter,  and  on  the  other  was  the 
building-yard  with  a  large  work-shed  at  one  side  of  it, 
where,  when  Uncle  George  was  not  in  the  way  to  superin- 


IN1R0DUCES    THE    READER.  13 

tend  matters,  his  place  was  supplied  by  his  head  man, 
Timothy  Gibson,  or,  as  he  was  sometimes  called — half  in 
fun  perhaps,  because  of  a  certain  failing  of  his  which  caused 
him  to  be  at  times  by  no  means  a  reliable  person — "  Trusty 
Tim."  Trusty  Tim  was  a  good-natured,  hard-working 
fellow,  and  had  long  been  his  master's  right  hand  and 
factotum,  but,  unhappily,  he  had  a  weakness  for  strong  ale, 
which  at  times  overcame  him,  and  caused  him  to  forget  the 
discretion  which,  generally  speaking,  was  his  predominant 
characteristic.  John  was  rather  partial  to  Trusty  Tim. 
He  would  drop  into  the  shed,  and  if  Tim  had  time  to  listen, 
or  was  occupied  by  a  job  that  allowed  him  to  give  some  of 
his  attention  to  him,  he  would  be  delighted  to  hear  John 
unfold  some  of  his  "  ideas "  upon  things  in  general,  and 
carpentering  and  building  in  particular.  I  don't  know 
whether  he  was  ever  led  away  sufficiently  by  his  veneration 
for  John  to  carry  out  any  of  his  notions ;  at  any  rate  he 
never  did  so  with  his  master's  materials ;  but  his  faith  in 
the  boy  was  almost  as  great  as  his  grandmother's. 

Uncle  George's  children  had  a  fine  time  of  it,  as 
healthy,  hearty,  country  children  mostly  have.  They  ran 
about  in  the  timber-yard  and  the  paddock,  picked  up  apples 
in  the  orchard,  went  nutting  and  blackberrying  in  due 
season,  rode  the  horses  without  saddles,  and  joked  with 
Trusty  Tim,  who  made  them  toys  out  of  odd  bits  of  wood* 
put  up  wonderful  swings  for  them,  and  told  them  tales  of 
the  time  when  he  was  a  youngster  himself.  But  the)  liked 
oest  being  with  Cousin  John.     He  was  thoroughb  good- 


14  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

natured,  especially  with  children,  and,  when  they  were  all 
tired  of  play,  would  amuse  them  for  hours  by  telling  them 
of  the  extraordinary  things  he  intended  doing  when  he  was 
a  man,  or  how  much  better  everything  in  this  world  would 
be  if  people  would  only  follow  out  his  notions,  and  arrange 
matters  accordingly.  They  were  too  young  to  help  him 
carry  out  his  projects,  for  John  was  fourteen,  and  his  eldest 
cousin  full  three  years  younger,  while  the  family  group 
terminated  in  a  baby  in  arms.  If  John  could  have  had  his 
own  way,  he  would  have  made  experiments  with  this  baby, 
and  he  actually  went  to  the  length  of  proposing  some  to 
Lucy,  the  nurse,  a  good-tempered  buxom  girl,  who,  accord- 
ing to  him,  had  no  more  notion  of  handling  an  infant  than 
anybody  else.  To  hear  John  talk,  you  would  have  won- 
dered how  ever  babies  had  been  reared  at  all.  He  would 
have  it  that  people  were  as  ignorant  of  the  art  of  nursing 
as  of  everything  else.  Lucy  used  to  listen  and  laugh,  and 
cry,  "  Lor,  Master  John ! "  when  he  said  anything  particu- 
larly outrageous,  but  she  held  her  baby  tight,  and  took 
good  care  never  to  let  John  get  hold  of  it  for  an  instant,  for 
fear  he  should  make  some  experiment  upon  it.  It  was 
just  the  same  with  his  aunt's  cook — his  mother's  old 
servant  was  a  great  deal  too  obstinate  and  self-willed, 
according  to  John,  ever  to  listen  to  reason,  but  his  aunt's 
Hannah  was  a  person  of  an  easier  disposition  ;  fat,  round, 
pleasant,  and  good-tempered ;  and  John  liked  above  all 
things  to  expound  to  her  how  apple-dumplings  should  be 
made,  and  meat  should  be  roasted  ;  and,  though  Hannah 


INTRODUCES    THE    READER.  1 5 

had  never  as  yet  let  him  carry  out  any  of  his  theories,  John 
considered  he  had  some  reason  to  hope  that  in  time  she 
would  feel  how  much  wiser  he  was  in  culinary  matters  than 
all  the  cookery-books  that  ever  were  written,  from  "  the 
way  to  cook  apples"  to  "  Francatelli's  Guide." 

It  was  just  the  same  with  everything  else.  There  was 
not  a  blacksmith,  according  to  John,  that  knew  how  to 
shoe  a  horse  properly ;  and  his  favorite  lounge  out  of 
school-hours  was  the  forge  in  the  village,  where  he  would 
find  fault  with  everything  that  was  going  on,  and  be 
perpetually  offering  his  assistance  and  advice  to  have 
matters  carried  on  better.  Reade,  the  blacksmith,  was  a 
solid,  grave  fellow,  but  he  bore  pretty  well  with  the  boy, 
for  John  was  so  thoroughly  well  meaning,  and  so  perfectly 
convinced  that  he  was  doing  every  one  the  greatest  kind- 
ness possible  in  favoring  them  with  his  "  ideas,"  that  it  was 
not  very  easy  to  be  angry  with  him.  Besides,  dry  and 
sober  as  Reade  seemed,  he  liked  a  joke,  and  John  could 
always  put  up  with  one  at  his  own  expense,  even  when,  in 
apparently  permitting  him  to  carry  out  his  schemes,  it  took 
rather  a  practical  form.  Reade  would  often  pause  be- 
tween the  sounds  of  his  anvil  to  listen  to  the  boy's  chatter, 
and  a  curious  twinkle  would  come  into  his  deep  black  eyes, 
and  something  as  near  like  a  smile  as  any  one  ever  saw, 
flicker  across  his  thin  dark  face.  There  were  plenty  of 
others  to  whom  John  was  very  fond  of  chattering  and 
opening  his  mind,  and  altogether,  with  all  his  whims  and 
vagaries,  he  was   tolerably  popular   in   the  village,  there 


1 6  THE    BOY    WITH  A  1ST  IDEA. 

being  only  one  person  in  it  unkind  enough,  according  to 
his  mother,  and  ridiculous  enough,  according  to  John,  to 
say  in  plain,  outspoken  words,  that  the  boy's  head  was 
"being  turned  with  conceit,  and  that  he  wanted  sending 
to  a  good  strict  boarding-school  to  have  the  nonsense 
taken  out  of  him." 

And  this  person  was  John's  Uncle  George,  who  had 
no  patience  whatever  with  his  nephew's  crochets,  and,  as  I 
said  before,  lost  no  opportunity  of  ridiculing  both  them 
and  him.  However,  this  did  not  trouble  John  very  much 
He  was  supremely  happy  in  the  conviction  that  he  was  one 
of  the  cleverest  fellows  in  existence,  and  was  endeavoring 
to  impress  everybody  about  him  with  the  same  conviction, 
benevolently  favoring  them  with  his  advice  on  whatever 
subject  might  arise;  always  with  the  most  unbounded  con- 
fidence, and  the  most  implicit  belief  in  himself  and  his 
own  powers,  dashing  into  the  conversation  with  all  sorts  of 
pet  theories  and  wild  fancies  of  his  own,  and  opening  them 
all  with  his  perpetual  expression,  "  I've  got  an  idea  ! " 

I  mean   to  tell  you  about  some  of  his  "ideas,"  and 
what  they  led  him  into. 


CHAPTER   II. 

A    NEW    WAY    OF    BRINGING    PIGS    HOME    FROM    MARKET, 

.  TNCLE  GEORGE  was  in  the  habit  of  fattening  his 
^—  own  pigs  ;  and  a  very  good  habit,  too,  as  everv 
one  knows,  if  you  want  your  pork  and  bacon  to  be  of 
really  first-rate  quality.  He  generally  bought  them  young, 
and  after  a  while  handed  them  over  to  the  care  of  Trusty 
Tim,  who,  by  a  judicious  diet  of  toppings,  barley-meal, 
and  potatoes,  generally  succeeded  in  turning  out  pigs  that 
would  have  been  considered  quite  worthy  of  a  place  in 
any  cattle-show.  For  Trusty  Tim  did  a  good  deal  about 
the  place  that  by  no  means  came  under  the  head  of  his 
duties  as  foreman  in  the  building-yard.  If  it  had  not 
been  for  that  one  failing  of  his  to  which  I  have  alluded,  he 
would  have  been  invaluable  to  his  master,  and,  as  it  was,  in 
many  matters  he  was  Uncle  George's  right  hand.  One  of 
his  numerous  employments,  which  required  both  skill  and 
honesty,  was  to  select  and  purchase  the  pigs  for  fattening 
at  Old  Cross  Market. 

He  was  about  to  start  one  morning  on  this  very  errand 
having,  besides,  to  execute  some  commissions  for  his  mas- 


1 8  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

ter  in  the  town,  and  Uncle  George  was  giving  him  his 
final  directions,  when  John  stepped  into  the  building-yard, 
and  heard  what  errand  Tim  was  being  dispatched  upon  : 
"  You  may  buy  a  store-pig,  fit  to  put  up  at  once,  Tim,  in 
place  of  the  one  we're  going  to  kill  next  week;  or  if  you 
should  see  a  sow  with  a  thriving  litter  of  young  ones,  I 
wouldn't  mind  that  instead.  I've  had  some  thought  of 
raising  my  own,  but  be  sure  the  sow  is  young,  and  of  a 
good  sort,  and  the  litter  likely  to  fatten  well." 

"  All  right,  Uncle  !"  cried  John,  who  was  always  in  to  a 
great  a  hurry  to  speak  himself  to  let  any  one  else  finish 
what  they  had  to  say ;  "  only  let  me  go  with  Tim,  and  I'll 
take  care  he  don't  make  any  blunders  as  to  what  sort  of 
pigs  he  brings.  Tim's  all  very  well,  but  I  don't  think  he 
knows  the  points  of  a  pig.  You  should  go  more  by  the 
mouth,  I  say,  just  as  you  do  in  a  horse.  Just  see  what  sort 
of  teeth  he  has ;  that'll  tell  you  if  he'll  eat  well ;  and  the 
shape  of  his  mouth's  a  very  good  sign  as  to  whether  he'll 
grow  fat  upon  it.  That's  my  idea,  so  I  wish  you'd  let  me 
go  with  Tim.  It's  a  holiday  at  school  to-day — master's 
birthday — and  I'll  take  care  Tim  brings  you  home  as  good 
a  pig  as  ever  you  set  eyes  on." 

"  You'll  teach  Tim  how  to  choose  a  pig,  will  you  ? " 
said  Uncle  George,  dryly ;  "  anything  else,  young  man  ? 
I  should  like  to  know  what  there  is  you  couldn't  do  better 
than  anybody  besides.  Now,  don't  you  think  you  could 
preach  a  better  sermon  than  the  parson  ? " 

;<  Weil,  I've  got  an  idea  that  I  could,"  replied  John, 


BRINGING    PIGS    FROM   MARKET.  19 

coolly.     "  I  don't  think  his  are  first-rate,  by  any  means.     I 
only  wish  he'd  let  me  get  into  the  pulpit  and  try." 

"  Anything  else,  Master  Modest  ?  "  said  Uncle  George 
"  Well,  it's  useless  to  stand  talking  here.  Tim,  my  man, 
there's  the  money,  and  don't  go  near  the  '  Blue  Boar,'  nor 
any  other  place  of  the  sort ;  or,  if  you  do,  just  stop  at  the 
first  pint,  you  understand,  if  you  want  to  bring  the  pigs 
home  safely." 

"  Oh,  let  me  go  with  him,  Uncle  George,"  pleaded 
John,  "and  I'll  answer  for  it  the  pigs  will  come  home  all 
right  then." 

"  Let  the  boy  go,  master,"  urged  Tim  ;  "  he's  capital 
company  on  the  road." 

Thus  urged,  Uncle  George  consented,  laying  strict 
Injunctions  upon  Tim  not  to  trust  John  with  the  reins,  for 
fear  he  should  carry  out  any  newfangled  notions  about 
driving,  and  not  to  be  guided  by  any  of  his  ideas  in  buying 
the  pigs.  Tim  promised  faithfully  to  bear  these  injunc- 
tions in  mind,  and  then  John  and  he  started  off  together. 

It  was  a  lovely  November  morning.  The  mist  that, 
earlier,  had  hung  around,  cleared  off,  and  the  sun  was  shin- 
ing brightly  on  the  red  and  yellow  leaves  that  strewed  the 
ground,  and  those  that  with  a  faded  greenness  still  be- 
decked the  trees.  Old  Cross  was  four  miles  off,  and  the 
road  to  it  lay  through  pleasant  lanes,  with  here  and  there  a 
tiny  hamlet  by  the  side,  or  a  substantial  farmhouse,  looking 
so  solidly  comfortable,  and  homelike,  and  homely,  as  noth- 
ing but  a  well-kept  English  farmhouse  can.     Sometimes 


20  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

the  trees  met  overhead  ;  and  then  a  leaf  would  come  slowly 
flickering  down  into  the  cart,  and  John  would  stop  in  the 
midst  of  his  chatter  to  admire  the  beauty  of  its  autumnal 
coloring.  Then  they  would  pass  a  group  of  children  going 
to  school,  some  of  the  boldest  of  whom  would  try  to  out- 
run the  cart,  and  John  would  pelt  them  with  chestnuts,  or 
set  them  scrambling  for  a  rosy  apple,  and  then  begin  telling 
Tim  how  children  should  be  taught  if  he  had  his  way,  and 
the  present  generation  of  schoolmasters  and  schoomis- 
tresses  be  sent  about  their  business,  or  made  to  go  to 
school  themselves  to  learn  their  trade  properly.  Tim  was 
a  capital  listener ;  it  was  no  wonder  John  was  so  fond  of 
his  company ;  but  for  all  that  he  would  not  allow  John  to 
take  the  reins,  remembering  his  master's  orders,  and  hav- 
ing a  dim  idea  of  his  own  that  though  Master  John  was  a 
very  fine  fellow,  he  was  much  too  clever  at  talking  to  be 
very  clever  at  anything  else. 

They  were  some  time  in  reaching  Old  Cross,  for  Tim 
had  frequently  to  turn  off  the  direct  road  to  leave  a  mes- 
sage for  his  master,  and  once  had  to  stop  to  execute  a 
little  job  for  him — which  was  mending  a  gate  at  one  of  the 
farmhouses,  during  which  John  of  course  could  not  be 
content  with  minding  the  horse,  but  must  be  giving  Tim 
his  advice  the  whole  of  the  time.  All  this  caused  them 
not  to  reach  Old  Cross  till  eleven  o'clock,  when  the 
market  was  full,  and  intending  purchasers  were  busy  sur- 
veying the  stock.  Tim  put  up  his  horse  at  the "  Red 
Lion,"  saying,  "  Master  told  me  to  keep  clear  of  the  '  Blue 


BRINGING    FIGS    FROM   MARKET.  21 

Boar,'  and  their  ale  is  rather  thick,  and  gets  to  the  head 
uncommon  quick  ;  but  that's  no  reason  I  shouldn't  have  a 
quiet  pint  here,  for  I'm  terribly  thirsty  with  the  drive,  and 
shall  be  able  to  talk  all  the  better  if  I  moisten  my  throat, 
and  some  of  those  farmers  want  a  deal  of  persuading  be- 
fore they  can  be  brought  to  see  things  in  a  right  light,  and 
let  you  have  an  animal  at  a  proper  price." 

John  did  not  care  for  ale,  but  he  went  to  a  stall  in  the 
market  and  solaced  himself  with  some  brandysnaps  and 
gingerbread  nuts,  having  first  given  Tim  the  money  to  pro- 
cure some  ale,  thinking  it  the  least  he  could  do  to  evince  his 
sense  of  Tim's  good  fellowship  on  their  road  to  Old  Cross. 
Then  he  strolled  about  the  market,  and  gave  one  or  two  of 
the  old  women  who  had  fowls  to  sell  his  "  ideas"  as  to  the 
best  mode  of  fattening  them  ;  I  think  the  diet  he  recom- 
mended was  cod-liver  oil  and  arrowroot,  which  he  assured 
the  good  ladies  they  would  find,  if  they  thoroughly  followed 
it  out,  would  make  their  fowls  grow  to  the  size  of  turkeys, 
instead  of  being  the  poor  little  things  they  were.  Then  he 
looked  about  for  a  pig,  and  presently  pointed  out  a  lean, 
long-nosed  creature,  with  legs  that  all  the  barley-meal  in 
the  world  would  never  have  made  into  respectable  hams, 
and  said  to  Tim — 

''That's  your  sort.  Look  at  her.  She's  the  one  to 
fatten.  Got  a  litter  with  her,  too,  just  like  the  mother. 
Now,  Tom,  if  you'll  take  my  advice,  you'll  buy  her  at  any 
price.  I've  examined  her  mouth,  and  the  way  she'll  eat 
would  astonish  you.     Why  she'll  lay  on  fat  like  fun,  ODce 


22  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

you  give  her  the  right  sort  of  stuff  to  do  it  with ;  so  will 
the  young  ones.     Now  you  see  if  they  don't." 

"  Never  saw  any  of  that  sort  that  did,"  replied  Tim, 
gravely.  "  No,  no,  Master  John,  I  daren't  take  her  home 
in  the  cart.  It  wants  another  sort  to  please  the  master  , 
there's  the  one  I  have  in  my  mind's  eye,  but  my  throat'll  be 
as  dry  as  dust  on  a  July  day  before  I  get  her  at  the  price  I 
mean  to  give.    He's  a  tight  hand  at  a  bargain,  her  master." 

Tim  walked  off  in  the  direction  of  the  pig  he  coveted, 
and  John  sauntered  about  the  market.  Presently  he  saw  a 
boy  about  thirteen,  with  an  open  merry  face  and  fair  wavy 
hair,  standing  at  a  stall  where  hot  sausages  were  sold  fresh 
from  the  frying-pan.  He  was  devouring  these  dainties  with 
an  astonishing  relish ;  they  were  hot,  savory,  and  well- 
seasoned,  and  it  evidently  mattered  very  little  to  him  of 
what  they  might  be  composed. 

"What  a  bit  of  luck,"  thought  John,  "here's  Bob  tuck- 
ing into  the  sausages  like  winkey.  I'll  go  and  have  some, 
too,  and  ask  him  how  he  came  here." 

Bob  was  quite  as  much  pleased  to  see  John  as  John  was 
to  see  him.  They  were  cousins,  and  both  equally  related 
to  Uncle  George.  Bob  gave  John,  in  the  interval  of  saus- 
age-eating, the  required  information  as  to  how  and  why  he 
was  in  the  market-place.  He  had  walked  over  from  St 
Roland's,  six  miles  off,  where  he  lived,  and  expected  to  find 
Tim  in  the  market,  who  was  to  take  him  to  Uncle  George's, 
it  having  been  settled  that  he  was  to  stay  there  for  a  short 
time. 


BRINGING    PIGS    FROM   MARKET.  23 

"  For  I've  a  bad  cold,  John,  and  mother  thinks  it's  the 
Dverwork  at  school  that's  done  it — though  I  don't  know 
myself  but  what  trying  who  could  hop  longest  in  the  play- 
ground, without  either  shoes  or  stockings,  has  had  some- 
thing to  do  with  it — so  she  thought  a  little  change  would  do 
me  good,  and  set  me  up  for  the  winter.  It's  a  jolly  go, 
meeting  you  here,  and  Uncle  George's  isn't  a  bad  place  to 
be  at ;  you  and  I  will  have  a  lark  or  two  before  I  go  back. 
We'll  coax  old  Tim  to  let  us  take  it  in  turns  to  drive  home, 
and  I've  got  a  pea-shooter  for  the  one  that  isn't  driving." 

"  Ah,  that  won't  do,"  replied  John  mournfully  ;  "  Tim's 
a  good  soul,  but  Uncle  George  has  always  got  some  ridicu- 
lous notion  or  other  about  me,  and  now  he's  taken  it  into 
his  head  that  I  can't  drive,  and  charged  Tim  not  to  let  me 
have  the  reins,  and  I  did  want  to  teach  him  a  new  way  I'd 
got  of  holding  in  a  horse.  Never  mind,  if  we've  luck,  per- 
haps Tim  will  let  us,  for  to-day  he  is  extra  good-natured. 
Let's  hope  he  will.  I  say,  here  he  comes  with  his  pigs — 
eight  young  ones,  I  declare.  Well,  that's  not  the  sort  1 
should  have  bought,  but  I  suppose  Tim  knows  what  will 
please  Uncle  George." 

Tim  had  had,  as  he  anticipated,  much  difficulty  in  get 
ting  the  pigs  at  his  price  :  in  fact  the  miller  and  he  could 
not  come  to  any  terms  at  all  till  they  had  gone  to  the  bar 
of  the  "Red  Lion,"  where  a  great  deal  of  the  strongest  ale 
dispensed  there,  helped  them  to  come  to  a  settlement.  In 
consequence  of  this,  Tim  was  in  a  fair  way  to  realize  John'3 
wishes,  for  he  was  unfortunately  nearly  tipsy,  and,  having  a 


24  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

dim  consciousness  of  the  fact,  he  assumed  an  additional 
gravity  and  dignity  of  demeanor,  in  the  vain  hope  of  hiding 
from  John's  eyes  his  real  condition. 

"  It's  all  right,"  John  whispered  to  Bob  with  a  chuckle  ; 
"he  can't  drive  long,  and  if  he  should  only  take  a  little 
more,  we  might  do  as  we  liked  with  the  horse  or  the 
pigs  either.  We'll  get  him  to  drive  round  by  Brierley 
Common." 

Now  Brierley  Common  was  by  no  means  the  nearest 
way  to  Uncle  George's  house  at  Shedley,  but  there  was  a 
cozy  little  place  there,  kept  by  a  pleasant,  good-tempered 
widow,  who  sold  capital  ale  and  cider,  and  for  whom  it  was 
suspected  Tim  had  something  more  than  a  friendly  feeling 
At  any  rate  he  was  always  ready,  whenever  his  business 
led  him  in  that  direction,  to  stop  and  have  a  pint  of  ale  at 
"  The  Chequers,"  and  the  boys,  when  they  were  in  the  cart, 
had  no  great  difficulty  in  persuading  him  to  return  home 
that  way.  They  had  rather  a  squeeze  of  it,  for  of  course 
the  sow  and  her  litter  had  to  be  made  room  for,  and  the 
cart  was  not  a  large  one  ;  and,  besides,  they  had  two  sacks 
of  potatoes  to  carry  as  well ;  so  with  pigs,  potatoes,  the  two 
boys,  and  Tim,  there  was  as  much  as  the  cart  would  hold ; 
still  they  found  room  for  all,  and  started  off,  John  in  high 
spirits  at  the  thought  that,  after  passing  Brierley  Common, 
he  should  be  able  to  get  the  reins  in  his  own  hands,  and 
show  his  cousin  some  of  his  "ideas"  about  driving. 

Mrs.  Dale  stood  at  her  door  as  they  drove  up  to  "  The 
Chequers,"  and  accosted  them  with  a  pleasant  smile  and 


BRINGING    PIGS    FROM   MARKET.  25 

friendly  "Good-day;"  Tim,  of  course,  could  not  be  less 
civil  to  her ;  then  he  alighted,  and  took  a  glass,  perhaps 
two ;  at  any  rate  he  was  quite  long  enough  inside  "  The 
Chequers  "  to  do  so,  while  John  was  telling  Bob  how,  if 
once  he  got  the  reins,  he  would  give  the  horse  his  head  in 
fine  style,  and  set  him  galloping  like  a  wild  Arab  of  the 
desert.  But  though  Tim,  when  he  emerged  from  Mrs. 
Dale's  residence,  was  very  far  from  being  as  sober  as  a 
judge,  he  still  remembered  his  promise  to  his  master,  and 
kept  tight  hold  of  the  reins,  even  while  drowsily  nodding  in 
his  seat  to  such  an  extent  that  Bob  began  to  feel  afraid  he 
would  fall  off.  At  last  the  ale  he  had  drank  proved  itself 
too  much  for  Tim,  his  head  sunk  heavily  on  his  breast,  and 
he  began  to  snore  audibly. 

"Whatever  shall  we  do  with  him  ?"  said  Bob  ;  "do  you 
think  we  can  lay  him  at  the  bottom  of  the  cart,  Jack  ?  He 
isn't  safe  here  ;  he'll  topple  over." 

"Let's  get  the  reins  out  of  his  hands  first,  and  then 
we'll  see  about  making  him  comfortable,"  replied  John 
"  We  must  put  him  to  bed  with  the  pigs  and  potatoes. 
He'll  do  very  well  down  at  the  bottom  of  the  cart,  but  I 
must  have  the  reins." 

But  Tim  was  faithful  to  his  trust ;  he  held  the  reins 
tightly,  and  only  murmured  forth,  as  he  grasped  them  more 
closely,  "  Master  said  I  was  to  be  sure  and  drive  myself,  so 
I  durstn't  trust  thee,  Master  John."  Then  he  began  snor 
ing  again,  louder  than  ever. 

"  Here's  a  pretty  fix  ! "   cried  John.     "  He  can't  drive 


26  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

himself,  and  won't  let  me.  Whatever  time  shall  we  get 
home  at  this  rate  ? " 

Bob  stuck  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  and  contemplated 
the  sleeping  Tim,  saying,  "  He's  sure  to  fall  off  if  we  let 
him  sleep  there." 

And  so  Tim  did,  but  luckily  only  backwards,  dropping 
right  at  the  bottom  of  the  cart,  where  the  sow  made  him 
anything  but  welcome,  while  the  little  pigs  began  munching 
the  reins. 

"  Oh,  this'll  never  do  ! "  cried  Bob.  "  Those  creatures 
will  eat  him  next ;  but  how  ever  shall  we  get  him  on  the 
seat  again  !  I  declare  if  that  old  sow  isn't  poking  her  snout 
at  him.  She  means  to  take  a  bite  or  two.  Let  him  alone, 
you  brute ! " 

John  looked  thoughtfully  at  Tim  and  the  pigs.  "  There 
isn't  room  enough  for  all,  unless  we  could  take  the  sow  in 
the  front  seat  with  us,  which  I  don't  think  we  could.  I'm 
sure  she  wants  to  nibble  at  him.  But,  Bob,  I've  got  an 
idea!  Why  should  that  great  fat  beast  be  carried,  any 
more  than  Shock,  who's  content  to  run  after  the  cart,  let  it 
go  as  fast  as  it  will.  Let's  tie  her  underneath  by  the  neck, 
and  turn  the  little  ones  out,  they'll  be  safe  to  follow  their 
mother,  and  we  shall  all  get  home  famously,  for  the  horse 
won't  have  such  a  load  to  carry,  and  poor  old  Tim  can  have 
the  cart  to  himself,  and  the  potatoes." 

"  Do  you  think  we  can  fasten  her  underneath  ? "  said 
Bob,  doubtfully,  "  and,  when  we  have  fastened  her,  will  she 
walk  ? " 


BRINGING    PIGS    FROM   MARKET.  27 

"  Safe  to,"  replied  John  ;  "  why,  what  a  piece  of  non- 
sense it  is  to  be  carrying  a  great  lazy  animal  in  a  cart  when 
she  has  four  stout  legs  of  her  own  to  walk  upon.  Now, 
old  lady,  turn  out.  Let's  have  your  necktie,  Bob;  no,  it 
isn't  long  enough,  we  must  take  the  cord  from  the  po- 
tatoes ;  there  you  are,  join  them  together,  and  there's 
plenty  of  rope  *br  my  lady.  Now  we've  got  to  get  her 
out." 

Theyloweied  the  tail-board  of  the  cart,  and  with  some 
difficulty  succeeded  in  hauling  out  the  sow.  She  did  not 
like  it  at  all,  and  grunted  sorely  at  such  treatment ;  but 
they  tied  her  under  the  cart,  much  in  the  manner  that  dogs 
are  sometimes  secured,  and  then  turned  out  the  little  pigs, 
by  which  time  Bob  found,  to  his  great  satisfaction,  that  Tim 
had  dropped  hold  of  the  reins. 

"We'll  make  him  comfortable  before  we  start,"  said  he, 
and  so  they  did,  as  far  as  the  very  limited  space  at  the 
bottom  of  the  cart  would  allow ;  then  John  took  the  reins, 
and  proceeded  to  show  Bob  his  new  way  of  driving. 

"  The  first  thing  is  to  make  him  hold  his  head  up,"  said 
he,  drawing  the  snaffle  so  tight  that  the  poor  horse  felt  his 
neck  almost  dislocated,  and  naturally  began  to  rebel,  strug- 
gling and  kicking  in  hope  of  being  free.  "Ah!  she  isn't 
used  to  it ;  wait  a  bit,  she'll  soon  find  the  benefit  of  it." 
But  the  horse  didn't  find  the  benefit  of  it,  for  he  struggled 
and  kicked  still  more,  and  by  so  doing  greatly  incommoded 
the  sow,  who,  finding  herself  annoyed  by  the  horse's  legs, 
naturally  retaliated  by  taking  a  bite  at  them.     This  scared 


28  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

poor  Wheeler  more  than  ever ;  away  he  started,  drag- 
ging cart  and  pig  at  his  heels  at  a  terrific  rate.  Bob  was 
thoroughly  frightened,  but  John  was  in  all  his  glory. 
"  Didn't  I  tell  you  I'd  make  him  go  off  like  a  wild  horse  of 
the  desert !"  he  cried.  "  Did  you  ever  know  old  Wheeler 
start  off  in  this  style  before  ?  " 

However,  Wheeler  had  tugged  at  the  reins  to  such  good 
purpose  that  he  got  his  head  comparatively  free,  and,  being 
a  horse  of  a  quiet  disposition,  once  more  proceeded  at  a 
gentle  pace,  Bob  imploring  John  not  to  draw  the  reins  so 
tightly  again  ;  "  for  if  he  goes  like  a  wild  Arab,  the  sow 
cant. 

"  Why  shouldn't  she  ? "  replied  John.  "  Pigs  can  run  fast 
enough  when  they  please,  only  people  let  them  give  way  to 
their  laziness,  and  never  think  of  putting  them  to  any  other 
use  than  just  to  make  pork  and  bacon  out  of  them." 

"  Well,  whatever  else  should  they  do  with  them  ? " 
asked  Bob. 

"  /  don't  see  why  they  shouldn't  draw  dogs'-meat  carts, 
and  children's  chaises,"  said  John,  "  I'm  sure  they're  strong 
enough.  Let  them  work  for  their  living,  I  say,  and  not 
think  they  come  into  the  world  just  to  eat  and  grow  fat, 
and  then  be  sold  by  the  butcher ;  they  may  as  well  be 
turned  to  account  while  they're  waiting  for  that ;  at  any 
rate  I  shall  make  this  old  lady  and  her  young  ones  gallop 
as  fast  as  Wheeler.  Now,  old  fellow,  hold  up  your  head, 
and  off  we  go." 

Away  Wheeler  started,   and  the  poor  sow  under  the 


BRINGING    PIGS    FROM   MARKET.  29 

cart,  rinding  herself  forced  to  run  too,  grunted  and  panted, 
but  still  got  over  the  ground  faster  than  she  had  ever  done 
in  her  life  before.  The  little  pigs  kept  up  with  their 
mother,  squeaking  awfully  the  while,  and  making  their 
poor  little  legs  ache  with  the  unwonted  pace.  John  ex- 
ulted loudly,  "  Isn't  it  stunning !  Didn't  I  tell  you  the 
old  lady  could  run,  and  the  young  ones  too,  if  they  were 
only  taught  they  must.  And  look  at  old  Wheeler.  Isn't 
he  clearing  the  ground  in  style !  That's  my  new  way  of 
holding  him  in !     People  don't  half  know  how  to  drive." 

Presently  they  came  to  a  little  hamlet  by  the  roadside, 
the  children  in  which,  having  dined,  were  returning  to 
school.  Of  course,  the  sight  of  a  horse  at  full  gallop 
with  a  sow  tied  under  the  cart  running  as  fast  as  the  horse, 
and  a  swarm  of  little  pigs  trotting  after  her,  was  too  great 
a  treat  to  these  youngsters  for  them  not  to  see  as  much  as 
they  could  of  it,  instead  of  making  haste  to  their  lessons. 
Away  they  ran,  too,  shouting,  hurrahing,  flinging  their  caps 
in  the  air,  and  throwing  stones  at  the  pigs  to  make  them 
run  faster.  John  took  this  as  a  small  ovation,  a  tribute  to 
his  skill  in  driving,  and  in  teaching  pigs  the  way  they 
should  go ;  while  Bob,  thoroughly  frightened,  expecting 
every  instant  the  cart  would  be  upset,  kept  imploring 
John  not  to  urge  Wheeler  on  so  fast,  but  to  be  content 
with  arriving  home  in  a  quieter  manner. 

"  That'll  never  do,"  replied  John  ;  •'  I  must  conquer  him 
now  I've  begun,  or  he'll  think  he's  conquered  me.  Don't 
the  old  lady  below  keep  it  up  well !  and  the  young  ones 


30  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

are  going  it  in  style.  No,  it  won't  do,  Wheeler,"  he  added 
as  the  horse  attempted  to  slacken  his  pace,  and  carry  his 
head  a  little  more  as  Nature  meant  he  should ;  "  on  you 
go,  and  up  you  keep  your  head,"  He  gave  Wheeler  a  lash 
with  the  whip  as  he  spoke,  and  pulled  more  tightly  at  the 
reins.  John  was  anything  but  a  cruel  boy  ;  still  he  had  his 
theory  to  enforce,  and  if  Wheeler  could  not  be  brought  to 
go,  by  any  other  means,  in  the  way  John  thought  it  right  he 
should,  why  the  whip  must  be  resorted  to.  But  Wheeler 
did  not  approve  of  the  lash,  nor  of  having  his  head  pulled 
in  so  tightly.  He  pranced  and  kicked,  and  the  poor  sow 
received  one  of  his  heels  full  on  her  nose.  She  gave  him 
in  return  so  sharp  a  bite  that  poor  Wheeler,  thoroughly 
furious,  ran  on,  and  instead  of  turning  the  corner  as  he 
should  have  done,  kept  straight  forward,  and  let  John  pull 
as  he  might,  never  desisted  running  till  he  found  himself 
in  the  middle  of  a  tall  quick-set  hedge,  where  he  was 
obliged  perforce  to  come  to  a  standstill,  greatly  to  the 
comfort  of  the  unfortunate  sow,  wru"  was  able  to  take 
breath  at  last,  while  her  little  ones  gathered  round  her, 
telling  their  mamma  most  pathetically  how  tired  they  were 
with  trying  to  keep  up  with  her.  As  to  the  school-children, 
of  course  they  were  highly  delighted  with  Wheeler's  pre- 
dicament, and  clapped  their  hands,  and  expressed  the'.r 
approval  as  loudly  as  if  he  had  run  into  the  hedge  on  pur- 
pose to  please  them. 

"  Here's  a  pretty  go ! "  said  Bob,  ruefully ;  "  what's  to 
be  done  now  ?  " 


BRINGING    PIGS    FROM   MARKET.  31 

"  Get  Wheeler  out  of  this,  and  he'll  go  on  right  enough," 
replied  John.  "  I  only  wish  those  little  monkeys  wouldn't 
stand  there  making  such  a  dreadful  noise." 

Bob  and  he  got  down  and  endeavored  to  extricate 
Wheeler  from  the  hedge.  It  was  a  work  of  difficulty,  and 
they  tore  their  hands  and  clothes  in  doing  so,  but  at  last 
they  succeeded,  and  were  about  to  get  into  the  cart  again, 
when  a  loud  shout  from  the  children  informed  them  that 
the  sow  had  released  herself  from  her  very  unpleasant  po- 
sition, and  was  making  her  escape  as  fast  as  she  could,  fol- 
lowed by  all  her  little  ones.  Away  darted  the  school- 
children after  her.  Who  could  be  expected  to  think  about 
lessons  with  such  a  chase  before  them  ?  Bob  and  John 
ran  off;  it  would  never  do  for  Uncle  George  to  lose  his 
pigs  like  this  ;  and  Wheeler,  finding  himself  left  to  his  own 
resources,  thought  the  best  thing  he  could  do  would  be  to 
go  quietly  home  in  his  own  old-fashioned  way,  instead  of 
being  driven  after  John's  new  one.  Away  he  started, 
and  it  was  not  long  before  Uncle  George  was  surprised 
to  see  old  Wheeler  trotting  into  the  yard  without,  appar- 
ently, any  one  in  the  cart  behind  him.  Wheeler  was  the 
steadiest  horse  in  the  village,  the  very  last  to  be  suspected 
of  such  an  impropriety  as  running  away  ;  but  coming  home 
like  this  without  either  Tim  or  the  boys,  looked  very  much 
like  it,  and  then,  where  were  the  pigs  ? 

Uncle  George  got  up  and  looked  in  the  cart,  expect- 
ing to  find  the  pigs  there,  but  instead,  he  saw  Tim  with 
his  head  on  a  sack  of  potatoes,  snoring  heavily.     He  shook 


32  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

him,  and  Tim  grunted  out,  "  Dont'ee,  dont'ee,  Master 
John ;  master  said  I  wasn't  to  let  'ee  have  the  reins." 

"  Where's  the  pigs  ? "  asked  Uncle  George,  "  and 
where's  John  and  Bob  ? " 

"  All  right,  all  right,  Mrs.  Dale,"  said  Tim,  sleepily  ; 
"  one  of  the  master's  own  sort,  as  tidy  a  beast  as  ever 
brought  up  a  litter." 

"  Mrs.  Dale  !  then  he's  been  at  '  The  Chequers,' "  said 
Uncle  George,  "  and  I  suppose  I  must  go  there  to  look 
after  the  pigs.  I  hope  Master  John  won't  be  trying  any  of 
his  new  •  ideas '  upon  them." 

He  called  a  couple  of  his  men,  and  they  took  Tim  and 
the  potatoes  out  of  the  cart,  laying  the  former  down  in  the 
work-shed  to  sleep  himself  sober,  while  Uncle  George 
got  into  the  cart  and  drove  off  in  the  direction  of  "  The 
Chequers,"  hoping  there  to  find  his  pigs,  and  to  learn  how 
it  was  Tim  had  come  home  in  the  cart  by  himself.  He  had 
not  driven  above  a  mile  when  he  heard  a  perfect  Babel  of 
children's  voices  proceeding  from  a  field  separated  from 
the  road  by  a  high  hedge. 

"  I've  got  this  fellow  by  the  tail.  Run  round  this  way, 
Tom,  and  catch  the  old  sow !  Hold  her  head  !  Pull  her 
legs  !    Give  her  a  knock  !    Get  on  her  back  !    I'm  on  ! " 

And  looking  over  the  hedge,  Uncle  George  saw  twenty 
urchins,  with  John  and  Bob  foremost  among  them,  trying 
to  chase  half  as  many  pigs,  while  one  red-headed  little 
fellow  had  actually  leaped  on  the  back  of  the  sow,  and 
was  doing  all  he  could  to  impede  her  further  progress,  b) 


BRINGING    PIGS    FROM   MARKET.  33 

pulling  her  head  by  the  ears.  It  was  a  fortunate  thing  that 
the  sow  rushed  into  a  field,  the  gate  of  which  was  open, 
and  that  Bob  (John  would  never  thought  of  such  a  sim- 
ply practical  thing)  had  closed  the  gate  when  the  children 
had  all  run  in  after  her,  otherwise  the  chase  might  have 
continued  until  nightfall ;  and,  as  it  was,  it  was  a  matter  of 
no  slight  difficulty  to  catch  so  many  pigs.  Shock  was 
doing  his  best  to  help,  barking  furiously,  taking  flying 
bites  first  at  one  and  then  at  the  other,  but  as  soon  as  a 
pig  was  caught  it  only  struggled  away  out  of  its  captor's 
arms,  and  the  hunt  had  to  begin  over  again.  However, 
Bob  and  John  having  secured  the  sow,  began  to  consider 
where  they  should  place  her  while  they  captured  the 
others,  but  were  not  left  long  in  doubt,  Uncle  George's 
voice  sounding  over  the  hedge,  "  Tie  her  round  the  neck 
by  this  rope,  and  lead  her  here  ;  I've  got  the  cart  outside. 
Now,  you  youngsters,"  he  added,  addressing  the  village 
children,  "  a  penny  for  every  pig  you  bring.  Look  sharp, 
and  see  who'll  catch  them  quickest." 

This  was  putting  the  thing  in  a  business-like  way,  and 
the  children,  who  had  only  chased  the  pigs  in  fun  before, 
now  began  to  do  so  in  real  earnest.  Bob  and  John  soon 
had  the  sow  in  the  cart,  and  then  set  to  work,  too,  to  help 
catch  the  little  pigs,  which  were  soon  all  with  their  mother, 
grunting  peacefully  in  the  cart  by  her  side,  while  the  school- 
children departed  in  high  glee  to  spend  the  pennies  whicf 
they  had  won  by  capturing  the  pigs. 

"  And  now,  young  man,"   said  Uncle  George,  address 
3 


34  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

mg  John,  when  they  were  all  together  in  the  cart,  "can 
you  tell  me  how  it  was  Wheeler  came  home  without  you, 
and  the  pigs  were  all  loose  in  the  field  ? " 

John  looked  rather  awkward,  but  he  was  a  boy  who  had 
never  told  an  untruth  in  his  life,  and  after  a  little  hesita- 
tion, he  frankly  told  Uncle  George  the  whole  state  of  the 
case,  passing  over  Tim's  visit  to  "  The  Chequers  "  as  lightly 
as  he  could.  Uncle  George  was  too  well  pleased  at  having 
all  his  pigs  in  safety  to  find  much  fault ;  besides,  he  knew 
that  Tim  would,  as  he  said,  "  be  ashamed  enough  of  him- 
self when  he  was  sober."  "  I  think  next  time,  however," 
he  added,  "  I'll  send  Wheeler  to  market  by  himself.  He 
seems  more  fit  to  be  trusted  than  either  Tim  or  you,  01 
both  put  together.  But  then  you  see,  John,  he  is  but  a 
brute,  and  isn't  blessed  like  you  with  a  plentiful  stock  of 
*  ideas. ' " 


CHAPTER  III. 

HOW  TO  MAKE  OLD  BOOTS  BETTER  THAN  NEW.  SHOWING, 
TOO,  THAT  IT  IS  NOT  SO  EASY  TO  STAND  ON  ONE'S 
DIGNITY  WHEN  ONE  HAS  LITTLE  BESIDES  TO    STAND    ON. 

T)OB  got  on  pretty  well  at  Uncle  George's.  He  was 
"*-^  very  fond  of  his  little  cousins,  very  obedient  to  his 
aunt,  and  seldom  got  into  any  mischief  unless  John  was 
with  him  to  show  him  the  way.  His  cold,  too,  got  better ; 
and,  when  his  father  came  to  Shedley,  he  was  so  pleased 
with  the  improvement  in  him,  that  he  was  easily  persuaded 
to  let  him  remain  there  for  the  whole  of  the  Christmas  hol- 
idays. This  arrangement  was  a  very  good  one,  as  it  left 
Bob's  father  and  mother  at  liberty  to  pay  a  long-talked-of 
Christmas  visit  to  some  relatives  in  Cumberland  ;  and,  as 
they  were  elderly  people,  Bob  would  certainly  not  have  en- 
joyed himself  half  so  much  among  them  as  he  would  be 
sure  to  do  amongst  Uncle  George's  houseful  of  children,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  society  of  his  cousin  John.  Very  soon, 
too,  John  and  he  had  a  third  friend,  in  the  person  of  anoth- 
er boy  who  was  at  home  for  the  Christmas  holidays.  This 
young  gentleman  was  about  fourteen,  a  pupil  at  one  of  the 


30  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

largest  London  schools,  to  which  he  went  up  every  day  bj 
rail.  He  was  a  clever  boy — slight,  tall,  and  with  thin,  del- 
icate features,  and  fair  hair.  He  had  carried  off  several 
prizes  at  each  school-examination,  and  had  as  firm  a  faith 
in  the  South  Middlesex  University  as  John  had  in  any  of 
his  "  ideas."  He  had  never  expressed  it  in  as  many  words , 
but  you  could  easily  gather  that,  in  Master  Theodore  Har- 
ley's  opinion,  the  South  Middlesex  University  was  the  first 
school  in  the  world,  and  he  the  first  boy  in  it.  John  and 
Bob,  however,  were  not  disposed  to  quarrel  with  him  on 
that  account.  One  was  too  full  of  his  own  "  ideas  "  to  care 
very  much  for  such  matter-of-course  things  as  his  lessons  ; 
while  the  other,  though  a  clever  boy  in  his  way,  liked  any- 
thing better  than  school.  Theodore,  or  Ted,  as  his  inti- 
mates called  him,  gave  himself  a  few  airs — was  apt  to  judge 
people  and  things  by  his  school  standard — "  what  our  mas- 
ters would  say  of  them,"  or  what  "  our  fellows  would  do  ;" 
but  this  did  not  hinder  his  being  a  thoroughly  pleasant 
companion,  and  a  very  good-hearted  fellow.  Ted's  parents 
— I  think  I  may  consider  myself  one  of  Ted's  intimates,  so 
I  will  give  him  his  short  name — resided  a  little  distance 
from  Uncle  George's.  They  were  elderly  people,  Ted  be- 
ing the  youngest  of  a  large  family,  all  of  whom,  but  him- 
self, had  either  died  in  infancy,  or  were  married  and  set- 
tled elsewhere ;  consequently,  when  at  home,  Ted  was 
thrown  very  much  upon  his  own  resources,  and  left  to  find 
his  own  amusements  and  make  his  own  friends  ;  and,  on  the 
whole,  I  think  he  might  have  done  worse  than  spend  his 


NOW    TO    MAKE    OLD    BOOTS    NEW.         37 

time  so  much  as  he  did  with  Bob  and  John,  although,  dur- 
ing these  Christmas  holidays,  they  certainly  led  him  into 
not  a  few  scrapes,  which  indeed  no  boy  could  keep  out  of 
who  was  much  in  Master  John's  company. 

I  suppose  there  is  no  boy  who  reads  this  book  but 
knows  something  of  Penny  Readings.  There  is  scarcely  a 
village  or  town  in  England  without  them,  and  very  good 
things  they  are.  Well,  this  winter  the  good  folks — some 
of  them  at  least — in  Shedley,  thought  they  would  have 
Penny  Readings  of  their  own.  The  idea  originated  with 
some  of  the  working-men,  who  had  formed  themselves  into 
a  club,  thinking,  and  very  rightly,  that  they  had  quite  as 
much  right  to  meet  together  for  the  purpose  of  draughts, 
chess,  conversation,  or  reading,  when  they  had  done  their 
hard  day's  work,  as  the  fine  gentlemen  at  the  West-End 
had  to  come  together  after  no  work  at  all.  Out  of  one 
good  thing  often  comes  another,  and  out  of  the  working- 
men's  club  had  arisen  the  Penny  Readings  ;  and,  though  this 
was  the  first  winter,  they  were  going  on  very  well  indeed, 
and  giving  great  satisfaction  and  amusement  to  many  every 
Wednesday  evening.  Neither  Ted,  John  nor  Bob  had  yet 
attended  any  of  them,  but  the  first  Wednesday  after  the 
former  had  returned  home,  they  were  all  going  to  do  so, 
Ted's  father,  Mr.  Harley,  having  promised  to  take  the 
chair. 

The  different  gentlemen  in  the  village  were  in  the 
habit  of  doing  so  alternately,  and  of  reading  aloud,  and 
otherwise    assisting  the  club  on  these  evenings ;  but  the 


38  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

one  who  patronized  them  most  graciously,  and  looked  most 
affably  upon  their  progress,  was  Strangeways  Fripp,  Esq. 
He  was  the  greatest  man  in  the  village.  There  were 
richer  men  and  better  born,  but  no  one  who,  like  Mr. 
Fripp,  had  contrived  so  successfully  to  impress  every  one, 
not  excepting  himself,  with  such  an  overwhelming  idea  of 
his  own  importance.  It  was  believed  by  some  in  Shedley 
that  the  cocks  would  cease  to  crow,  and  the  clocks  to 
strike,  if  anything  went  wrong  with  Mr.  Fripp;  that  the 
whole  machinery  of  the  village  would  come  to  a  stand-still, 
and  nothing  go  right  ever  more,  if  he  did  not  remain  in 
it,  and  keep  things  going  as  they  should  do.  He  was  a 
tall,  portly  man,  with  hair  just  turning  gray — had  been 
handsome  in  his  time,  and  was  still  exceedingly  good- 
looking.  He  had  the  blandest,  most  gracious  manner 
possible ;  was  uniformly  courteous  to  every  one,  after  an 
elaborate,  dignified  style  of  his  own,  which  made  all  with 
whom  he  came  in  contact  feel  how  very  small  they  were, 
and  how  very  good  Mr.  Fripp  was  in  taking  notice  of  them 
at  all. 

Now,  as  Mr.  Fripp  was  quite  as  much  persuaded  as 
every  one  else  that  nothing  in  the  village  could  go  right 
without  him,  he  was  always  present  at  the  Penny  Readings, 
and  really  made  himself  very  useful  at  them.  The  Na- 
tional School  boys  were  always  there  in  great  numbers, 
and  sometimes  were  inclined  to  be  a  little  unruly.  A  word 
or  even  a  look,  from  Mr.  Fripp,  was  sufficient  to  recall  them 
to  order,  as  they  stood  more  in  awe  of  him  than  even  the) 


HOW    TO    MAKE    OLD    BOOTS    K&W.         39 

did  of  their  master;  while,  if  the  laboring  men,  who  formed 
the  bulk  of  the  audience,  were  inclined  to  show  too  plainly 
when  a  reading  was  of  an  undue  length,  or  not  to  their 
taste,  that  they  disapproved  of  it,  Mr.  Fripp's  indignant  "  Si- 
lence there !  "  and  the  glance  of  offended  majesty  he  cast 
round  to  see  who  was  creating  an  uproar  in  his  presence, 
had  an  immediate  effect  in  causing  silence.  Mr.  Fripp  was 
superb  when  he  took  the  chair ;  he  praised  every  one  and 
everything,  as  if  he  knew  his  praise  was  worth  the  having, 
and  that,  in  bestowing  it,  he  was  conferring  an  inestimable 
reward ;  and,  no  doubt,  in  his  own  opinion,  he  was.  Mr. 
Fripp  was  to  read  to-night ;  he  was  that  rare  thing,  a  good 
reader.  I  wonder,  boys,  whether  all  these  Penny  Readings 
will  not,  in  time,  make  good  readers  of  you !  If  so,  the 
next  generation  will  be  much  better  off  than  we  are  in  this. 
Ted,  Bob,  and  John  were  very  early  at  the  Readings. 
Mr.  Harley  was  to  come  after  in  his  phaeton,  but  the  three 
boys  had  walked  on  first.  It  was  a  raw,  cold  night,  and  the 
roads  were  very  sloppy  and  muddy.  John  had  been  so  busy 
with  some  experiment  he  was  concocting  that  he  had  not 
given  himself  time  to  dress  properly,  but  had  drawn  on 
the  first  pair  of  boots  which  came  to  his  hand ;  and,  as 
these  were  thin  ones,  only  fit  for  summer  wear,  his  feet 
were  damp  when  he  arrived  at  the  boys'  school- room, 
where  the  meetings  were  held.  Mr.  Norton,  the  school- 
master, who  was  always  present  on  these  occasions,  heard 
him  saying  so  to  Ted  and  Bob,  and  good-naturedly  asked 
him    if  he   would   step   into    the    small  class-room,  which 


40  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

was  at  the  back  of  the  large  school-room,  and  dry  his  boots, 
as  there  was  a  good  fire  there.  This  was  a  very  accept- 
able offer ;  and  as  it  still  wanted  twenty  minutes  to  eight, 
the  hour  at  which  the  readings  commence,  the  three  ooys, 
who  were  all  cold,  felt  that  they  should  spend  the  time 
while  they  were  waiting  much  more  agreeably  there  than 
in  the  large  school-room,  where  as  yet  scarcely  any  one 
had  arrived  but  themselves. 

On  entering  the  class-room,  they  saw  Mr.  Fripp  warm- 
ing his  hands  by  the  fire.  He  had  been  changing  his 
boots :  not  for  the  world  would  Mr.  Fripp  have  appeared  on 
the  platform  in  dirty  ones,  and  therefore  he  always  sent 
down  a  pair  of  dress-boots  to  put  on  when  he  arrived  at  the 
school-room.  He  had  just  placed  the  boots  he  had  taken 
off  in  a  cupboard  he  always  appropriated  for  the  purpose ; 
and  presently,  after  giving  the  young  gentlemen  a  very 
encouraging  "  Good-evening,"  he  went  into  the  school- 
room so  see  if  the  lamps  were  being  duly  lit,  and  every- 
thing going  on  as  it  should  do. 

Everything  would  have  gone  on  very  well  without  Mr. 
Fripp,  but  then  it  was  impossible  for  Mr.  Fripp  to  believe 
that  it  could ;  so,  after  satisfying  himself  that  all  the  arrange- 
ments were  complete,  he  returned  to  his  seat  on  the  plat- 
form, a  dignity  which  he  shared  in  common  with  the  Rector 
««id  the  Chairman.  Mr.  Fripp  always  liked  to  sit  there,  to 
support  the  Chairman,  as  he  said  ;  that  is,  to  encourage 
him  if  he  was  diffident,  do  his  work  for  him  if  he  was  not 
^uite  up  to  it,  and  keep  the  school-boys  in  order  if  they 


HOW    TO    MAKE    OLD    BOOTS    NEW.         41 

tvere  disposed  to  be  unruly.  He  sat  there  now,  waiting  for 
the  Rector,  a  meek,  placid,  elderly  gentleman,  who  came 
to  the  Penny  Readings,  not  on  account  of  any  interest  he 
could  possibly  have  in  any  thing  that  was  going  on,  as  he 
detested  music,  disliked  light  reading,  and  thought  no 
recitations  in  the  world  worth  hearing  but  passages  from 
Homer  in  the  original  Greek ;  but,  as  he  was  the  Rector, 
he  thought  it  incumbent  on  him  to  attend  occasionally  to 
see  how  the  people  were  going  on,  to  let  them  know  that 
he  was  there  to  look  after  them,  and  to  keep  them  from 
protracting  the  readings  to  an  undue  length,  as  he  had  a 
great  aversion  to  late  hours.  Presently  he  came,  and  Mr. 
Fripp  rose  to  receive  him — a  compliment  he  always  paid  the 
Rector — and  they  had  a  little  chat  together  while  waiting 
for  the  Chairman. 

Meanwhile,  John  had  been  not  only  drying  his  boots, 
but  informing  Ted  and  Bob  of  an  "  idea  "  he  had  got,  by 
which  boots  could  be  made  waterproof.  "  It's  a  better 
thing  than  gutta-percha — done  in  half  the  time,  and  not 
half  the  trouble.  It's  melted  glue,  resin,  and  fine  gravel 
all  mixed  up  together ;  you  put  it  on  the  soles,  leave  the 
boots  to  harden  in  the  air,  and,  as  soon  as  they're  dry, 
you're  all  right.  I've  got  some  of  the  stuff  in  a  bottle  with 
me.  I'd  just  finished  making  it  when  you  fellows  came. 
My  mixture,  I  call  it.  I  think  I'll  ask  mother  to  let  me 
take  out  a  patent  for  it ;  I'm  sure  it  would  make  my 
fortune.  I  wish  I'd  a  pair  of  boots  handy,  just  to  show  you 
two  how  it's  done.     I'd  put  it  on  my  own,  only  I  can't  gc 


42  THE    BOY    WITH    AN    IDEA. 

m  the  school -room  without  them,  and  the  glue  mxst  be 
thoroughly  dried  in  the  air  before  the  boots  can  be  worn." 

These  remarks  were  overheard  by  a  gentleman  who  was 
waiting  in  the  class-room  before  he  made  his  appearance  on 
the  platform.  As  a  general  rule,  those  who  contributed  to 
the  amusement  of  the  audience  sat  amongst  them  till  their 
turn  came  to  read,  recite,  or  sing  ;  but  Mr.  Gubbins  was  to 
appear  in  character — that  of  a  negro — and  was  blacking  his 
face  preparatory  to  going  on  the  platform.  He  was  a  mis- 
chievous fellow,  and,  unfortunately,  not  so  strict  in  his  re- 
gard to  truth  as  he  should  have  been  when  a  joke  was  in 
the  way ;  so,  knowing  where  Mr.  Fripp  kept  his  boots,  he 
fetched  them  from  the  cupboard,  and  unblushingly  offered 
them  to  John  as  his  own,  requesting  him,  with  the  utmost 
civility,  to  be  good  enough  to  try  his  mixture  upon  them. 
It  struck  him  that,  if  the  glue  did  not  dry  on  the  boots,  or 
Mr.  Fripp  were  to  warm  his  feet  with  them  on,  the  conse- 
quences, when  he  attempted  to  move,  might  be  rather 
amusing. 

"  They're  a  nice-looking  pair,"  said  Ted,  eyeing  Mr. 
Gubbins  curiously ;  "  and  you've  got  a  pair  on  your  feet  as 
well." 

"Ah!"  said  Mr.  Gubbins,  rather  loftily,  "these  are  my 
every-day  ones — good  enough  to  act  a  nigger  in ;  but  the 
others  are  my  Sunday  best,  and  I  walked  here  in  them, 
and  brought  the  old  ones  with  me  along  with  the  other 
things  for  the  part." 

"  All  right ! "  said  John,  only  too  pleased  to  have  a  pair 


HOW    TO    MAKE    OLD    BOOTS    NEW.         43 

of  boots  to  operate  upon  ;  "  I  must  get  the  stuff  warm  first, 
which  I  can  do  in  the  bottle  that  holds  it,  as  it's  stone." 

He  placed  the  bottle — which,  indeed,  was,  as  he  said, 
qu;te  stout  enough  to  stand  the  fire — on  the  hob,  and,  as 
soon  as  the  glue  had  melted,  spread  his  mixture  liberally 
on  the  soles  of  the  boots,  Mr.  Gubbins  politely  holding 
them  for  the  purpose  ;  then  the  latter  opened  the  window 
of  the  class-room  and  deposited  Mr.  Fripp's  boots,  soles  up- 
wards, on  the  sill,  and,  having  closed  it,  proceeded  with  his 
toilet,  while  John  and  his  friends  went  to  the  school-room 
for  the  purpose  of  witnessing  the  evening's  performances. 

Three  front  seats  had  been  reserved  for  them  by  Mr. 
Harley.  Ted  set  himself  down  by  his  mother ;  and,  folding 
his  arms  and  crossing  his  legs,  prepared  to  criticise  the 
evening's  performances  at  his  ease.  Mr.  Fripp  was  the 
first  who  read,  and  Ted  listened  attentively. 

"He's  done  it  very  well — very  well  indeed,"  he  said, 
when  the  other  had  finished.  "  A  little  more  animation, 
and  I  think  Mr.  Fripp  wouldn't  be  a  bad  reader." 

Then  followed  a  recitation — a  comic  one — by  a  young 
fellow  whose  very  face  made  the  audience  laugh,  it  was  so 
inexpressibly  good-humored  and  mirthful ;  this  was  very 
well  done,  but  it  did  not  satisfy  John. 

"He's  like  old  Fripp,"  said  he — "wants  a  little  more 
energy.  Now  I  wonder  how  this  fellow  will  do  his  part ! 
Oh,  there's  two  of  them  ! — Warwick  and  Edward  the 
Fourth,  from  Henry  the  Sixth." 

Ted  paid  great  attention  to  this.     "Not  so  bad!"  he 


44  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

said,  patronizingly,  when  it  was  over;  "but  I  should  like 
you  to  hear  the  fellows  at  our  school — " 

"  It's  not  what  I  like,  though,"  said  John ;  "  there's  no 
'  go '  in  them.  I've  an  '  idea '  I  should  do  that  sort  of  thing 
much  better  myself.  They  do  not  throw  enough  spirit 
into  the  thing.  I'll  ask  mother  to  let  me  recite  next 
time,  just  to  show  them  how  it  should  be  done.  I  sus- 
pect I  should  make  them  open  their  eyes  a  little." 

Next  followed  a  comic  song,  really  very  well  sung,  and 
then  the  blacksmith  of  the  village  gave  a  popular  ditty, 
which  was  very  much  approved,  for  every  boy  joined  in  the 
chorus,  and  they  always  liked  those  songs  best  where  they 
could  do  so,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  burden  of  this 
song  was  rendered  was  almost  deafening;  in  fact,  the 
audience  were  so  carried  away  with  delight  at  their  own 
vocal  efforts,  that  they  insisted  upon  an  encore,  which, 
though  against  the  rules — for  the  Rector  was  very  anxious 
that  all  should  be  over  by  half-past  nine — was  acceded  to, 
and  the  chorus  was  joined  in  more  lustily  than  ever,  Bob 
and  John  joining  in  it  as  heartily  as  any  one,  while  Ted  still 
sat  silent,  with  folded  arms,  smiling  with  conscious  supe- 
riority. 

"  What  a  noise  you  fellows  have  been  making  ! "  he  said, 
when  the  song  was  over.  "  It's  rather  caddish,  you  know, 
that  kind  of  thing.  We  never  have  anything  to  do  with 
stuff  like  that  at  the  University.  Hallo !  here's  my  pater- 
nal relative  going  to  read  ;  now  I  wonder  how  ^'11  do  it ! " 

Master  Ted  prepared  himself  to  criticise  his  father  as 


HOW    TO    MAKE    OLD    BOOTS    NEW.         45 

coolly  and  impartially  as  he  had  criticised  every  one  else  ; 
and  Mr.  Harley  read  a  very  beautiful  little  story  from 
Washington  Irving's  "  Sketch  Book,"  at  the  end  of  which 
his  son  observed,  "  Now  that  really  was  very  well  done  ; 
but  I  don't  particularly  admire  Washington  Irving  myself." 

Then  the  Rector  read  one  of  Cowper's  shorter  poems, 
which  was  not  at  all  to  Ted's  taste,  or  John's  either.  As 
to  Bob,  he  had  no  opinion  of  his  own  on  such  matters. 
He  approved  or  disapproved  just  as  his  friends  told  him, 
and  was  therefore  quite  ready  to  agree  with  Ted  when  he 
observed — 

"  Don't  think  much  of  the  piece,  or  the  old  gentleman's 
reading  either.  They  didn't  teach  him  to  open  his  mouth 
wide  enough  when  he  went  to  school ;  that's  a  great  point 
with  our  elocution-master." 

The  performances  wound  up,  as  usual,  with  "  God 
save  the  Queen."  A  number  of  the  schoolboys  came  on 
the  platform  and  sang  it,  the  audience  joining  in.  It  was 
a  pretty  sight  to  see  the  little  fellows,  with  their  chubby, 
well-washed  faces,  and  well-worn  garments,  singing  away 
with  all  their  hearts  and  all  their  lungs.  There  were  a 
dozen  or  more  of  them,  the  best  singers  in  the  school,  and 
they  always  gave  the  National  Anthem  to  conclude  the 
Readings  with.  The  Rector,  however,  ran  away  before  they 
had  finished  singing  ;  not  that  he  was  wanting  in  loyalty, 
but  the  readings  had  been  protracted  to  an  unusual 
length,  and  he  did  not  like  being  out  late  himself,  or  en- 
couraging other  folks  to  be  so.     When  the   singing   was 


46  THE   BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

over,  the  audience  departed,  the  boys,  who  were  always 
there  in  great  numbers,  springing  over  the  benches  in 
rather  a  disorderly  manner,  till  they  were  recalled  to  order 
by  Mr,  Fripp's  dignified  "  Boys  !  boys  !  "  when  they  went 
out  a  little  more  quietly,  not  choosing  to  incur  any  severe 
reprimand  from  Mr.  Fripp,  who  still  kept  his  eye  upon 
them. 

Mrs.  Harley  told  Ted  he  had  better  walk  home  with 
his  friends.  She  had  one  vacant  seat  in  the  carriage,  but 
she  was  reserving  that  for  Mr.  Fripp,  as  she  intended  to 
ask  him  home  to  supper  with  her  eldest  daughter,  Mrs. 
Glynn,  who  had  come  from  London  the  preceding  day,  and 
had  accompanied  her  to  the  Readings,  and  with  her  and 
Mr.  Fripp  the  carriage  would  be  quite  full.  That  gentle- 
man having  seen  the  boys  leave  the  school-room,  got  down 
from  the  platform  himself,  there  being  an  opening  at  the 
oack  of  it  into  the  class-room,  which  was  generally  screen- 
2d  by  a  curtain.  He  found  Oakes  there,  his  man  of  all 
work,  waiting,  rather  testily,  to  carry  his  master's  dress- 
boots  home  ;  it  was  getting  late,  and  Oakes  disapproved, 
quite  as  much  as  the  Rector  did,  of  late  hours.  Mr.  Fripp 
pulled  off  his  boots  and  gave  them  to  the  old  man,  then 
proceeded  to  warm  his  feet  before  putting  his  others  on, 
and  next  turned  to  the  cupboard,  which  was  close  by  the 
fireplace,  where  he  had  put  them,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
them  out. 

But  there  were  no  boots  there  ;  and  Mr.  Gubbins,  who 
was  removing  the  black  from  his  face,  knew  very  well  that 


HOW    TO    MAKE    OLD    BOOTS    NEW.         47 

they  were  not  there.  He  had  gone  to  the  window  a  few 
minutes  before  this,  intending  to  fetch  the  boots  in,  and 
give  the  soles  a  good  warming,  thinking  to  derive  a  little 
amusement  at  Mr.  Fripp's  expense.  It  was  a  presump- 
tuous thought,  and  Mr.  Gubbins  was  punished  for  it  in  a 
manner  he  little  expected.  The  boots  had  gone  from  the 
window-sill,  nor  had  they  dropped  outside,  for  he  sprang 
out  of  the  window  to  look  for  them,  but  they  were  not  to 
be  found.  Mr.  Gubbins  got  in  again,  feeling  almost  as 
much  vexed  as  if  the  boots  had  been  his  own.  Mr.  Fripj 
had  been  a  good  friend  to  the  club,  and  this  would  look 
as  if  some  of  its  members  had  returned  his  kindness  by 
stealing  his  boots.  A  joke  was  one  thing,  thought  Mr. 
Gubbins,  but  a  theft  was  quite  another,  and  he  resolved 
to  lose  no  time  in  washing  his  face,  making  himself  look  a 
little  more  like  a  decent  working-man,  and  a  little  less  like 
a  "  nigger,"  and  start  off  to  try  if  he  could  recover  Mr. 
Fripp's  property. 

Meanwhile,  that  gentleman,  indignant  at  finding  his 
boots  gone,  called  loudly  for  Mr.  Norton,  the  schoolmaster, 
and  told  him  what  had  happened.  Mr.  Norton  was  sur- 
prised and  annoyed,  and  began  a  vigorous  search  after  the 
missing  articles.  Mr.  Gubbins  assisted,  declaiming  loudly 
against  whoever  could  have  taken  them,  but  the  boots 
were  not  forthcoming.  Mr.  Fripp  became  very  angry. 
He  felt  that  some  one  had  been  playing  him  a  trick,  and 
he  naturally  resented  their  doing  so.  Indeed,  he  was 
much  more  indignant  than  he  would  have  been  if  he  had 


48  THE  BOY   WITH  AN  IDEA. 

merely  believed  the  boots  to  have  been  stolen.  Unlike 
Mr.  Gubbins,  he  thought  a  joke  a  much  more  unpardon- 
able offence  than  a  theft,  when  that  joke  was  practised 
upon  Strangeways  Fripp,  Esq. 

Mr.  Harley  was  about  to  leave  the  platform  for  the 
purpose  of  joining  his  wife  in  the  school-room,  when  she, 
followed  by  Mrs.  Glynn,  went  up  to  him.  "  Have  you 
asked  Mr.  Fripp  to  come  home  with  us  to  supper  ? "  she 
said. 

"  Quite  forgot  it,  my  dear,"  said  Mr.  Harley.  "  He's 
only  in  the  class-room  here — suppose  you  do  so  yourself." 

"  Come  with  me,  Mary,"  said  Mrs.  Harley  to  her  daugh 
ter,  "  and  I'll  introduce  you  to  him  at  the  same  time." 

The  two  ladies  entered  the  class-room,  to  Mr.  Fripp's 
extreme  discomfiture.  To  think  of  his  being  seen  by  ladies 
in  his  stockings !  and  what  made  matters  worse  was,  that 
the  big  toe  of  one  of  his  feet  was  pushing  its  way  through 
a  small  hole  which  had  been  worn  into  the  stocking  since 
the  morning.  He  looked  aghast  at  the  hole  !  How  should 
he  hide  it  from  Mrs.  Harley's  eyes,  and  from  those  of  the 
strange  lady  with  her  ?  He  thought  he  would  cover  one 
foot  with  the  other,  and  try  if  that  would  do.  It  conceal- 
ed the  hole  certainly ;  but  standing  in  this  position  to  sa- 
lute a  lady  is  rather  awkward,  as  you  will  find,  boys,  if  you 
try  it ;  and  then  it  simply  hid  the  hole,  and  not  the  fact 
that  he  was  still  in  his  stockings,  and  how  could  he  shake 
hands  with  Mrs.  Harley  without  first  explaining  how  it  was 
he  happened  to  be  so  ? 


HO IV    TO    MAKE    OLD    BOOTS    NEW.        49 

On  came  Mrs.  Harley,  smiling  and  with  outstretched 
hand.  She  was  tall  and  stout,  with  voluminous  skirts, 
and  her  daughter  was  quite  as  tall,  and  her  skirts  as  wide 
as  her  mother's.  Mr.  Fripp  felt  himself  overpowered  as 
they  bore  down  upon  him ;  and,  when  Mrs.  Harley  shook 
hands  with  him,  in  the  most  friendly  manner  possible,  and 
introduced  him  to  her  daughter,  he  wished  the  floor  of  the 
school-room  would  open  and  let  him  through.  Mrs.  Glynn 
bowed,  and  he  had  to  bow  in  return,  and  in  so  doing  was 
learly  tnrown  off  his  balance ;  then  Mrs.  Harley  gave  him 
her  invitation  to  supper,  which  he  hesitated  about  accept 
ing,  for  now  could  he  go  out  to  supper  without  his  boots  ? 
Mrs.  Glynn  glanced  at  his  feet :  "  Oh,  mamma,  we  are  keep- 
ing Mr.  Fripp  all  this  time  standing  without  his  boots  ! " 

Mr.  Fripp  began  a  labored  explanation  as  to  his  boots 
being  mislaid,  when  Mrs.  Glynn  and  her  mother  begged 
him  to  sit  down  while  waiting  for  their  being  found  ;  but 
how  could  Mr.  Fripp  walk  to  a  chair  without  exposing  that 
unlucky  hole  ?  Mrs.  Glynn  saw  his  perplexity,  and  enjoy- 
ed it  ;  she  guessed  the  state  of  the  case  as  far  as  the  hole 
was  concerned,  as  not  for  a  second  would  Mr.  Fripp  change 
the  position  of  his  feet ;  but  her  good-nature  getting  the 
better  of  her  love  of  fun,  she  turned  her  head  aside, 
and  drew  her  mother  gently  away,  that  Mr.  Fripp  might 
have  an  opportunity  of  drawing  on  his  boots  undisturbed. 
This  was  very  good  of  her,  if  only  Mr.  Fripp  had  had  his 
boots  to  put  on.  He  was  able  to  stand  at  ease  for  a  mo- 
ment or   so,  and  to  look  round  to  see  if  the  boots  were 


50  1 HE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

forthcoming ;  but  Mr.  Norton  came  up  with  a  puzzled  face 
to  say  the  boots  could  not  be  found,  and  the  only  thing  he 
could  suggest  was  for  Mr.  Fripp  to  put  on  a  pair  of  his 
own,  for  which  he  would  send  to  his  house  at  once  ;  but 
Mr.  Norton  was  a  small  man,  and  Mr.  Fripp,  to  say  the 
least,  a  stout  one ;  so,  when  the  boots  came,  it  was  a  work 
of  no  small  difficulty  for  him  to  draw  them  on,  and  a  very 
painful  exertion  for  him  to  reach  Mr.  Harley's  carriage. 
It  was  quite  impossible  for  him  to  maintain  his  accustom- 
ed majesty  of  movement  under  such  circumstances,  still 
less  to  behave  with  his  accustomed  urbanity  and  politeness 
to  the  ladies  he  was  accompanying,  and  he  had  to  suffer 
both  Mrs.  Harley  and  her  daughter  to  get  into  the  carriage 
without  his  assistance,  and  to  sit  in  torture  the  whole  time 
of  the  drive,  and  at  last  to  borrow  a  pair  of  boots  of  Mr 
Harley  (who  was  nearer  his  own  figure  than  Mr.  Norton) 
to  walk  home  in,  as  it  was  quite  out  of  the  question  that  he 
could  do  so  in  the  pair  Mr.  Norton  had  lent  him. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE    GREAT-GRANDMOTHER'S    SPELL.       HOW    MR.  TAGART 
FOUND    HIS    BOOTS    AN    UNPLEASANTLY    TIGHT    FIT. 

rTlED  had  been  very  much  vexed  that  Mr.  Fripp  should 
■""-  have  lost  his  boots  through  the  experiment  his  friend 
John  had  played  upon  them.  He  said  nothing,  however,  as 
to  his  own  knowledge  of  the  manner  in  which  they  might 
have  disappeared,  as  he  would  have  thought  it  "  sneaky " 
to  have  told  of  John's  share  in  the  matter ;  but  he  resolved 
to  go  next  morning  with  both  John  and  Bob  to  Mr.  Gub- 
bins  and  insist  upon  his  restoring  the  property  which,  in 
his  own  mind,  he  felt  convinced  Gubbins  had  stolen.  Mr. 
Gubbins  having  promised  the  boys  to  take  the  boots  in 
from  the  window  as  soon  as  the  glue  had  hardened,  it  was 
not  unnatural  for  Ted  to  imagine  that  he  had  taken  a 
fancy  to  them  for  himself. 

But  while  Ted  was  entertaining  these  hard  thoughts 
of  Mr.  Gubbins,  that  gentleman  was  exerting  himself  vig- 
orously to  restore  the  missing  property.  He  felt  the 
honor  of  the  club  was  at  stake,  as  no  one  had  been  in  the 
room  from  the  time  Mr.  Fripp  changed  his  boots  till  he 
re-entered  it  but  the  three  boys  and  different  members  of 


52  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

the  club,  and  suspicion  would  be  sure  to  rest  upon  some 
of  the  latter,  and  there  was  no  way  of  removing  it  but  by 
avowing  the  experiment  that  had  been  tried  upon  them, 
which  Mr.  Gubbins,  for  many  reasons,  felt  disinclined  to  do, 
unless  he  could  find  the  thief  and  induce  him  to  give  up  his 
plunder.  Now  the  thief,  Mr.  Gubbins  thought,  was  not 
likely  to  be  very  far  off.  A  narrow  passage,  much  too 
narrow  to  be  called  even  a  lane,  ran  by  the  side  of  the 
class-room  window,  and  led  to  the  back  entrance  of  a  low 
beer-shop  where  the  worst  characters  in  Shedley  congre- 
gated. Mr.  Gubbins  knew  this  place  very  well,  as,  before 
he  joined  the  working-men's  club,  he  had  been  one  of  the 
most  frequent  guests  ;  but  he  had  discontinued  his  visits 
there  for  some  time  past,  spending  his  spare  time  in  the 
reading-room  of  the  club,  or  in  preparing  for  his  own  per- 
formances in  public;  and,  though  singing  nigger  songs 
with  a  blackened  face  may  not  be  a  very  intellectual 
amusement,  at  any  rate  it  is  a  better  one  than  any  likely  to 
be  found  in  the  taproom  of  a  low  public-house. 

However,  it  was  to  this  very  public-house  that  Mr.  Gub- 
bins now  bent  his  steps.  He  opened  the  door  without  the 
ceremony  of  knocking,  and  went  at  once  to  the  taproom, 
where  he  found  several  of  his  former  acquaintances  seated, 
singing  coarse  songs  and  drinking  bad  beer.  He  had  a 
warm  welcome ;  they  were  glad  to  see  him  amongst  them 
again,  especially  as  they  were  planning  a  midnight  foray 
upon  some  adjacent  preserves,  and  thought  Mr.  Gubbins, 
who  had  formerly  been  possessed  of  considerable  skill  in 


THE    GREAT-GRANDMOTHERS    SPELL.       53 

carrying  out  such  schemes,  might  lend  them  some  assist- 
ance. He  took  a  pipe  along  with  the  rest,  and  joined  in 
the  talk,  looking  sharply  round  the  while  to  see  if  any  of 
them  were  wearing  a  better  pair  of  boots  than  usual.  No  ; 
there  was  not  a  foot  there  with  anything  upon  it  but  the 
thick  clouted  hobnailed  shoes  usually  worn  by  laborers  ; 
but  Mr.  Gubbins  did  not  give  up  hope.  Close  by  the  fire 
he  saw  a  thick  stout  bag  belonging  to  one  Bill  Tagart,  a 
notorious  rat-catcher,  and  through  the  folds  of  this  bag  he 
fancied  he  could  trace  the  outlines  of  a  pair  of  boots.  Bill 
earned  a  fair  livelihood  by  his  trade,  but  he  was  not  too 
particular  what  he  turned  his  hand  to,  and  often,  when 
catching  rats,  had  opportunities  of  finding  out  the  unpro- 
tected parts  of  fowlhouses,  or  the  walls  where  peaches  and 
nectarines  grew  thickest.  He  did  a  little  poaching,  too, 
now  and  then — anything,  as  he  said,  to  earn  an  honest 
penny,  he  was  not  particular  what. 

Mr.  Gubbins  soon  heard  what  was  in  contemplation. 
The  time  was  drawing  on,  and  he  was  plainly  told  that  his 
assistance  would  be  acceptable  ;  but  he  had  no  wish  to  em- 
bark in  such  schemes  again.  He  was  beginning  to  have  a 
taste  for  something  better ;  but  he  did  not  consider  it  pru- 
dent, under  present  circumstances,  to  say  so.  He  heard 
what  was  wanted  of  him,  and  then  replied,  thoughtfully, — 

"  It's  all  very  well,  but  we've  had  a  week's  rain,  and 
tramping  through  Black's  ground  with  one's  shoe-leather 
the  thickness  of  brown  paper  don't  suit  a  fellow  that's  deli- 
cate at  his  chest ! — don't  laugh  ! "    Mr.  Gubbins  was  the 


54  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

wag  of  the  village,  and  people  expected,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  he  would  say  something  funny  whenever  he  opened 
his  mouth.  "  I've  been  that  hoarse  to-night  I  could  hardly 
get  through  my  part.  It's  all  my  own  fault.  I've  had  the 
money  by  me  the  last  fortnight  for  a  new  pair  of  boots, 
and  been  too  lazy  to  go  to  Old  Cross  for  them ;  and 
look  at  these  things ! — my  feet  are  nigh  to  the  ground  in 
them." 

He  exhibited  his  boots  to  Bill  Tagart,  who  agreed  with 
him  that  they  certainly  were  very  thin  and  worn. 

"  It's  a  pity  that  should  keep  you  from  going  with  us,M 
he  said.  "  The  game's  as  thick  as  blackberries  in  autumn, 
and  we're  rather  short-handed.  What  might  you  think  of 
giving  now  for  a  pair  of  boots  ? " 

Mr.  Gubbins  took  out  a  little  mole-skin  purse,  and  began 
counting  his  money.  Bill  Tagart  eyed  it  greedily,  and  said, 
"  If  I  thought  you'd  give  a  fair  price  for  a  really  first-rate 
thing,  I've  got  a  pair  here  as  I  shouldn't  mind  letting  you 
have.  They're  too  big  for  me,  and  so  I  brought  'em  here 
to  ask  Jones  to  set  'em  against  my  score.  But  if  you  like 
'em  I'll  let  you  have  the  first  offer.  I  haven't  worn  'em 
above  half-a-dozen  times,  and  they're  reg'lar  good  uns. 
Come,  you  shall  have  'em  for  seven-and-six.  It's  giving 
them  away,  but  I  want  you  to  be  one  of  us  to-night." 

So  saying,  Bill  Tagart  produced  Mr.  Fripp's  boots  from 
his  bag.  Mr.  Gubbins  examined  them  as  if  he  had  never 
seen  them  in  his  life  before,  and  observed  to  his  great  satis- 
faction that  the  glue  and  resin  which  Master  John  had  stuck 


THE    GREAT-GRANDMOTHER 'S    SFELL.      55 

so  freely  on  the  soles  had  not  lost  any  of  their  tenacious 
qualities  through  contact  with  the  earth.  He  put  his  hand 
inside  and  felt  them,  then  shook  his  head  gravely,  "  They're 
precious  damp  ;  you  might  have  dried  'em,  Bill,  before  you 
brought  them  out ;  let  them  lay  before  the  fire  for  a  bit, 
and  then  I'll  try  them  on." 

He  placed  them  with  the  soles  towards  the  fire,  and 
went  on  smoking  his  pipe.  When  he  thought  sufficient 
time  had  elapsed  for  the  glue  to  be  thoroughly  melted,  he 
took  his  pipe  out  of  his  mouth,  and  said — 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  you  ever  got  those  boots  on 
your  feet,  Bill  ?  " 

"  Yes,  to  be  sure  ;  and  found  'em  a  deal  too  big ;  don't 
I  tell  you  that's  why  I  want  to  part  with  'em  ? " 

"  Don't  believe  you  could  get  them  on,  if  you  were  to 
try ;  and,  what's  more,  I  don't  believe  they're  yours  any 
more  than  they're  mine." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  said  Mr.  Tagart,  angrily. 

"  I  tell  you  I  don't  believe  you  ever  wore  those  boots 
in  your  life,  or  ever  saw  them  before  to-night ;  and  if  you 
get  them  on,  just  see  if  you  can  get  them  off  again,  that's 
all ;  I'll  lay  the  seven-and-sixpence  against  the  boots,  that 
if  they're  not  honestly  yours,  you  don't." 

"  And  how  do  you  mean  to  find  out  ? " 

"  My  great-grandmother's  way ;  she  was  a  clever  wo- 
man— cunning,  they  called  it,  at  those  times ;  and  if  she 
wanted  to  find  out  a  thief  she'd  stand  him  in  the  middle  of 
the  floor,  draw  a  circle  round  him,  and  out  of  it  he  couldn't 


56  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

pass  till  he'd  agreed  to  give  up  whatever  he'd  stolen 
Now,  if  you  like  to  bet  the  boots  against  the  seven-and- 
sixpence  that  they're  yours,  I'll  take  it,  provided  you  agree 
to  let  me  try  it  by  my  grandmother's  circle." 

"  You  mean  to  say  if  I  can  jump  out  of  the  circle  the 
seven-and-sixpence  is  to  be  mine,  and  if  not  the  boots  to 
be  yours.  Done,  my  boy !  You  may  as  well  hand  over 
the  money  at  once,"  said  Mr.  Tagart. 

"Not  quite  so  fast;  you  must  jump  out  of  it  in 
the  boots;  and  if  you  stole  them  they'll  hold  you  fast 
inside." 

"  Then  the  first  thing  is  to  get  the  boots  on,"  observed 
Mr.  Tagart,  commencing  to  do  so. 

"  Yes,  but  you  must  step  in  the  circle,  and  draw  them 
on  there,"  replied  Mr.  Gubbins,  taking  the  boot  away  from 
the  other,  and  replacing  it  before  the  fire.  Then  he  took 
a  piece  of  chalk  out  of  his  pocket,  and  drew  a  large  circle 
on  the  ground.  "  Now,  step  into  that,"  he  said  to  Tagart ; 
"  put  the  boots  on  when  you're  in  it,  and  stand  stock  still 
while  I  count  a  hundred ;  you  must  not  move  or  speak,  or 
you'll  break  the  spell." 

"  All  right,"  cried  Tagart,  doing  just  as  he  was  told ; 
then  when  the  boots  were  on,  he  stood  firmly  on  his  feet 
in  the  middle  of  the  circle,  with  his  arms  akimbo  and  his 
pipe  in  his  mouth,  looking  triumphantly  at  his  friends;  and 
feeling  as  sure  of  the  seven-and-sixpence  as  if  he  already 
had  it  in  his  pocket.  Mr.  Gubbins,  with  a  grave  face 
walked  slowly  round  the  circle,  counting  very  deliberately 


THE    GREAT-GRANDMOTHER S    SPELL.      57 

while  Jones,  the  landlord,  and  the  rest  of  the  guests 
laughed  and  made  coarse  jokes,  and  did  their  best  to 
make  Tagart  laugh  or  speak  in  return.  He  kept  his  com- 
posure, however,  and  smoked  immovably  on  till  Mr.  Gub- 
bins  came  to  ninety-eight,  ninety-nine,  a  hundred,  when 
he  attempted  to  spring  out  of  the  circle,  but  found  himself 
held  fast. 

He  took  his  pipe  out  of  his  mouth,  and  looked  round 
affrighted.  He  began  to  think  there  was  something  in  the 
great-grandmother's  spell  after  all.  He  tried  again  to  lift 
his  feet,  but  John's  glue  was  very  strong,  and  Mr.  Tagart 
did  not  use  all  the  force  he  might  have  done  had  he  not 
been  rather  afraid  that  some  charm  was  in  operation 
against  him.  Every  one  present  but  Mr.  Gubbins  began 
to  feel  rather  uncomfortable.  As  to  Jones,  the  landlord, 
it  occurred  to  him  that  it  would  be  an  extremely  unpleas- 
ant thing  and  very  much  in  the  way  of  business  if  Bill 
Tagart  were  to  stick  in  the  middle  of  his  floor  for  ever,  so 
he  took  his  pipe  out  of  his  mouth,  and  said  gruffly,  "  Come 
out  o'  that,  can't  you  ? " 

"  Wish  I  could,"  said  Tagart.  "  I  say,  Gubbins,  this  is 
a  rum  sort  o'  joke ;  I  didn't  agree  for  to  stand  here  for 
ever,  and  how  are  you  to  get  the  boots  if  I'm  fixed  ir 
them  ? " 

"  Then  I've  won  the  bet  ? "  asked  Gubbins ;  "  you'll 
agree  to  that  ?  " 

"  Oh,  bother  it,  yes  !  I'll  agree  to  anything  if  I  can 
only  get  out  of  this." 


58  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

"Stealing  the  boots  and  all?"   said  Gubbins  signifi 
cantly. 

"  No,  not  I.  What  a  man  finds  he  has  a  right  to  keep 
hasn't  he  ?  But  I'll  own  that  I  found  the  boots  instead  of 
buying  them,  as  I  told  you ;  and  as  soon  as  I  can  get  out 
of  them  you  may  have  'em." 

"  No,  I  shall  take  them  back  to  the  right  owner,"  re- 
plied Gubbins,  "  my  great-grandmother  won't  let  me  have 
any  peace  else." 

"  Your  great-grandmother ! "  cried  Tagart,  turning 
pale ;  "you  don't  mean  to  say  she's  really  a  hand  in  this  ? " 

"  Hasn't  she — what  else  is  keeping  you  there  ?  Isn't 
the  old  lady  a-stooping  down  behind  you,  and  holding  you 
to  the  floor  as  hard  as  she  can  ? " 

"  I'm  not  going  to  stop  here  I  know,  to  be  held  down 
by  any  one's  dead  grandmother ! "  cried  Tagart,  trying 
hard  to  free  his  feet  from  the  boots,  but  he  was  afraid  to 
use  his  own  hands  to  help  him,  for  fear  of  encountering 
the  ghostly  ones  of  the  defunct  old  lady.  Mr.  Fripp's 
boots  were  an  easy  fit  for  him,  and  he  succeeded  in  pulling 
one  foot  out,  but,  in  releasing  the  other,  the  glue  gave  way, 
and  the  boot  becoming  loosened,  Mr.  Tagart  was  thrown 
violently  back  full  length  on  the  ground,  when  the  lookers- 
on,  who  were  fast  beginning  to  suspect  something  ghostly 
was  at  work,  set  up  a  cry  of  dismay,  and  Mr.  Gubbins 
ciied,  in  a  terror-stricken  voice,  "She's  done  it !  " 

Mr.  Tagart  really  believed  she  had,  for  he  sprang  to 
his  feet,  and  without  even   stopping  to  pick  up  his  own 


THE    GREAT-GRANDMOTHER'S    SPELL.      59 

boots,  rushed  out  of  the  beer-shop,  and  ran  home  as  fast 
as  he  could,  while  Gubbins  went  up  to  Mr.  Fripp's  boots, 
and  with  scarcely  any  exertion — for  the  efforts  Tagart  had 
made  to  release  himself  from  them  had  greatly  loosened 
the  glue — raised  them  from  the  ground,  and  carried  them 
off  in  triumph. 


CHAPTER  V. 

how   john's  new   "mixture"    turns    out    a    better 
thing  than  he  had  expected. 

"IV  /TASTER  JOHN  was  indulging  in  a  sweet  dream  the 
■*■*■*-  next  morning — a  dream  in  which  he  imagined  that 
he  was  pouring  his  "  mixture  "  on  the  Prince  of  Wales' 
boots,  while  the  Queen  with  her  own  royal  hands  was 
making  out  his  patent — when  he  was  aroused  by  Martha 
entering  his  room,  and  informing  him  that  there  was  a 
man  below  who  wished  to  see  him  about  something  very 
particular.  Up  John  sprang — "  Some  one's  heard  of  my 
'  mixture,'  and  wants  me  to  put  it  on  their  boots  for  them. 
To  think  of  its  getting  known  like  this  already ! " 

He  was  dressed  in  five  minutes,  and  ran  down  stairs, 
where  he  found  Mr.  Gubbins  with  a  parcel  under  his  arm 
awaiting  him  in  the  kitchen.  He  came  towards  him  with 
a  mysterious  look,  and  shutting  the  door,  said,  "  Have  you 
heard  about  the  boots,  Master  Ashdell  ?  " 

"  No ;  what  about  them  ? "  asked  John,  eagerly. 

"  They  was  walked  away  with  last  night ;  but,  how- 
ever, I  found  where  they'd  got  to,  and  made  the  party  as 


JOHN'S    NEW   "MIXTURE."  6l 

had  helped  hisself  to  them,  give  them  back,  and  here  they 
are  all  right,  only  the  worst  of  it  is,  they've  knocked  some 
of  the  stuff  off ;  and  perhaps,  Master  Ashdell,  you  wouldn't 
mind  putting  a  little  more  on.  Look,  they've  used  them 
badly,  haven't  they  ;  but  don't  let  the  maids  know  any- 
thing of  it.  I'd  keep  my  mouth  shut  about  the  '  mixture, 
if  I  was  you,  Master  Ashdell,  if  you  don't,  other  folks  will 
be  trying  to  make  something  like  it." 

"  All  right ;  Martha's  setting  the  breakfast,  and  won't 
be  here  for  another  ten  minutes,  and  I'll  do  the  boots  in 
half  that  time,"  said  John. 

He  had  brought  his  bottle  with  him,  and  the  glue  was 
soon  warmed  and  poured  on  the  boots,  then  Mr.  Gubbins 
said,  "  Now  it's  right  you  should  know  the  truth,  Master 
Ashdell.  The  boots  isn't  mine  at  all,  but  Mr.  Fripp's,  and 
he  thinks  he's  lost  'em ;  so  if  you  hear  any  fuss  about  it, 
you'll  know  it's  all  right,  and  he'll  get  'em  back  to-night. 
I've  punished  the  party  pretty  well  as  took  'em,  for  I 
shouldn't  like  it  thought  the  Club  was  thieves.  Now, 
would  you  mind  writing  me  a  note,  Master  Ashdell,  for 
the  boots  to  excuse  themselves  for  stopping  out  without 
permission  ? " 

"All  right,"  replied  John,  rather  flattered  at  the  request, 
and  the  confidence  reposed  in  him.  He  led  the  way  to  an 
untidy  little  den  of  his  own,  where  he  concocted  his  exper- 
iments, and  which  he  called  his  study.  "What  shall  I 
write  ? "  he  asked  when  they  were  there. 

Mr.  Gubbins  hesitated  ;  "  Well,  perhaps  something  like 


62  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

this,  '  Honored  sir,  we  beg  pardon  for  making  holiday,  bul 
thought  we  should  like  a  turn  by  ourselves.  We're  all 
right  now,  and  won't  go  larking  any  more.  Your  humble 
servants,  Boots.     Strangeways  Fripp,  Esq.' " 

John  was  not  at  all  disinclined  to  play  a  joke  upon  Mr. 
Fripp,  so  he  wrote  the  note  in  his  best  small  round-hand. 
Mr.  Gubbins  said  he  would  append  it  to  the  boots  as  soon 
as  they  were  dry,  and  that  he  should  leave  them  after 
dark ;  all  of  which  he  did,  greatly  to  Mr.  Fripp's  discomfit- 
ure, as  he  was  more  than  ever  convinced  that  some  one 
had  been  playing  a  joke  upon  him,  and  till  now  he  had  not 
imagined  the  individual  breathed  audacious  enough  to  per- 
petrate a  joke  upon  Strangeways  Fripp,  Esq. 

He  was  so  disgusted  with  the  boots  that  he  did  not  put 
them  on  for  nearly  a  week,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  was 
again  to  be  present  at  the  Penny  Readings.  The  night 
being  fine,  he  resolved  to  wear  the  same  boots  on  the  plat- 
form that  he  had  walked  to  the  school-room  in,  indeed, 
he  never  intended  for  the  future  to  change  his  boots  there 
at  all,  but  to  ride  whenever  the  paths  were  muddy,  and 
finding  these  unlucky  boots  the  only  clean  pair  on  his  boot- 
horse,  he  drew  them  on  just  before  he  started  for  the  Read- 
ings, thinking  it  would  be  a  strange  thing  this  time  if 
another  joke  were  played  through  their  agency.  He  little 
knew  the  breadth  and  width  of  Master  John's  "  idea,"  and 
certainly  never  dreamed  what  sins  Mr.  Gubbins  was  capa- 
ble of  perpetrating.  He  took  unusual  pains  with  his  toilet 
that  evening.     The  night  being  fine,  and  the  performance? 


JOHN'S    NEW   "MIXTURE."  63 

attractive,  the  room  was  likely  to  be  crowded,  and  several 
ladies  of  his  acquaintance  to  be  present.  The  chairman 
for  the  evening  was  an  intimate  friend  of  his,  and  Mr. 
Fripp  felt  it  incumbent  on  him  to  be  present,  or  perhaps 
after  the  affront  he  had  received  on  the  previous  occasion, 
he  might  not  have  gone  at  all.  As  it  was,  he  determined 
not  only  to  go,  but  to  grace  the  occasion  as  much  as  pos- 
sible. 

He  had  not  proceeded  a  dozen  yards  on  the  road  to- 
wards the  school-room,  when  he  was  overtaken  by  the  car- 
riage of  Mr.  Burnes,  the  chairman  for  the  evening.  It 
was  a  fine  starlight  night,  and  Mr.  Fripp  being  recognized, 
was  asked  if  he  would  ride  instead  of  walk  to  the  Readings, 
which  he  graciously  consented  to  do.  Then  when  he  came 
to  the  school-room,  he  took  his  seat  on  the  left  hand  of  the 
chairman,  and  looked  round  the  room  with  that  blandly 
patronizing  manner  of  his  which  made  every  one  feel,  on 
whom  his  eyes  rested,  how  good  and  gracious  it  was 
of  Strangeways  Fripp,  Esq.,  to  come  there  to  look  at  them  ! 

Mr.  Burnes  was  a  stout,  pursy  little  man,  with  a  florid 
face,  and  carroty  hair  and  whiskers,  and  a  nose  and  chin 
that  reminded  you,  whenever  he  opened  his  mouth  to 
speak,  of  a  pair  of  Swiss  nut-crackers,  they  went  up  and 
down  with  such  a  droll  clip-clapper  fashion.  This  was  the 
first  time  he  had  been  chairman  either  here  or  anywhere 
else,  and  he  was  very  anxious  to  perform  the  office  in 
a  creditable  manner,  and  as,  although  he  had  lately  made  a 
great  deal  of  money  and  set  ud  his  carriage,  he  was  neithe; 


64  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

a  gentleman  nor  a  particularly  well-educated  man,  he  fell 
into  some  sad  blunders,  which  the  critical  ears  of  Mastej 
Theodore  Harley  were  very  quick  in  detecting.  That 
young  gentleman  was  in  one  of  the  front  seats  looking 
calmly  contemptuous  of  everything  going  on.  There  was 
something  deliciously  supercilious  in  his  attitude  as  he  sat 
with  his  arms  folded,  and  his  legs  crossed.  My  belief  is 
that  he  thought  every  one  in  the  room,  including  even  the 
rector,  the  chairman,  and  Strangeways  Fripp,  Esq.,  ought 
to  feel  flattered  by  having  a  pupil  of  the  South  Middlesex 
College  amongst  them.  John  and  Bob  were  one  on  each 
side  of  him,  the  former  had  obtained  permission  of  his 
mother  to  recite  that  evening,  and  had  prevailed  on  Bob  to 
do  so  with  him.  The  piece  was  "  Lochiel  and  the  Seer," 
and  John  felt  that  in  the  Seer  he  should  have  a  fine  oppor- 
tunity of  showing  the  public  how  to  suit  the  action  to  the 
word,  and  the  word  to  the  action.  He  had  had  a  great 
deal  of  trouble  with  Bob ;  first  to  get  him  to  learn  his  part, 
and  then  to  recite  it  properly.  Indeed,  as  soon  as  Bob  had 
mastered  one  line  he  forgot  the  one  before  it,  and  John 
had  to  act  Lochiel  before  him,  to  show  what  attitudes  he 
should  assume.  And  now  and  then  Bob  got  cross,  and 
declared  the  whole  thing  was  such  a  bother  he  would  give 
it  up  altogether.  Then  John  asked  Ted  if  he  would  take 
Bob's  place,  but  Ted  declined  with  scorn  that  was  grand 
to  see. 

"  Of  course  it's  not  that  I  couldn't  do  it,"  he  observed ; 
"  I  should  know  the  part  when  I'd  read  it  three  times 


JOHN'S   NEW   "MIXTURE."  65 

over,  hut  our  fellows  think  Penny  Readings  low,  and  if 
they  found  out  I'd  recited  at  one,  I  should  have  no  end  of 
chaff.  You  must  make  Thorley  do  it.  Tell  him  you'll  give 
him  a  licking  if  he  don't." 

John  would  have  been  sorry  to  do  that  with  Bob,  he 
had  always  been  good  friends  with  his  cousin,  and  at  last 
he  prevailed  on  him  to  try  again,  and  study  the  part  thor- 
oughly. They  had  rehearsed  it  just  before  starting  that 
evening,  and  Bob  seemed  tolerably  perfect  in  it,  but  he 
brought  the  book  with  him  to  refresh  his  memory  at  the 
last  minute,  "For,"  he  said,  "the  worst  of  it  is,  as  soon 
as  I  put  it  in  on  one  side  of  my  head,  it  runs  out  on  the 
other." 

Mr.  Burnes  opened  the  proceedings  with  some  prefatory 
remarks,  in  which  he  expressed  his  gratification  at  seeing 
the  room  so  full,  and  at  the  night  being  so  fine.  Then  he 
added  that  as  very  few  of  them  were  supplied  with  pro- 
grammes, he  would  read  out  the  list  of  the  evening's  per- 
formances to  them.  This  would  have  been  all  very  well 
if  he  had  not  added,  that,  "  When  we  dine  at  a  hotel  we 
like  to  look  over  the  bi'l  of  fare,  and  see  what  is  coming," 
and  he  considered  the  same  rule  applied  to  the  programme 
of  the  evening's  amusements.  Now,  as  this  observation 
was  addressed  to  an  audience,  the  great  majority  of  which 
were  working-men,  to  whom  a  slice  of  roast  beef  would 
have  been  a  banquet,  and  who  were  quite  unable  to  form 
the  remotest  conception  of  what  a  hotel  dinner  really 
consisted,  it  was  not  perhaps  in  the  very  best  taste ;  but 
S 


66  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

then  Mr.  Burnes  had  not  long  returned  from  a  continental 
tour,  and  liked  people  to  know  it.  Master  Theodore 
smiled  with  ineffable  scorn  when  he  heard  him ;  "  Precious 
cad  the  fellow  must  be  to  talk  like  that !  "  he  whispered  to 
John ;  "  I  suppose  he  wants  us  all  to  know  he's  had  a  good 
dinner  for  once  in  his  life." 

Then  some  of  the  national  school-boys  stood  up  and 
recited  a  short  dramatic  piece,  and  very  well  the  little  fel- 
lows did  it.  Even  Master  Ted  condescended  to  express 
his  approval  by  languidly  clapping  his  hands,  and  the 
chairman,  who  thought  this  a  good  opportunity  of  giving  a 
little  judicious  praise,  observed  that  the  performance  put 
him  very  much  in  mind  of  what  he  had  heard  of  the  dra 
matic  performances  of  the  Westminster  boys,  which,  how- 
ever, he  never  as  yet  had  the  pleasure  of  witnessing. 

This  remark  fell  rather  flat,  as  there  were  not  perhaps 
a  dozen  people  in  the  audience  who  knew  what  the  West- 
minster performances  were,  while  Ted,  who  did,  observed, 
"  And  I  wonder  if  he  would  have  understood  a  word  of 
them  if  he  had.  What  does  the  fellow  mean  by  making 
such  a  donkey  of  himself!  It's  your  turn  now,  Thorley.  I 
hope  you  haven't  forgotten  every  word  of  your  part." 

"  Don't  bother,"  said  Bob  savagely,  and  followed  John 
on  to  the  platform.  Now,  to  make  you  understand 
thoroughly  what  next  took  place,  I  must  do  what  perhaps 
I  should  have  done  sooner,  describe  the  school-room  and 
the  platform.  The  room  was  large,  and  hung,  as  school- 
rooms mostly  are,  with  maps.     It  was  lit  by  naphtha,  the 


JOHN'S   NEW  "MIXTURE."  6 J 

smell  of  which  was  at  times  more  powerful  than  pleasant, 
and  the  seats  were  forms  or  Windsor  chairs.  The  plat- 
form was  raised  three  feet  from  the  ground,  and  there 
were  chairs  on  it  for  the  rector,  the  chairman  and  Strange- 
ways  Fripp,  Esq.  On  each  side  the  room  were  windows, 
and  one  overlooked  the  end  of  the  platform,  on  which,  the 
night  being  cold,  they  had  placed  a  small  stove,  and  Mr, 
Fripp,  who  sat  nearest,  had  the  full  benefit  of  it,  and  en- 
joyed it  very  much,  toasting  his  feet  as  comfortably  as  if 
he  had  been  by  his  own  fireside.  He  smiled  encourag- 
ingly to  the  boys  as  they  stepped  on  the  platform,  and  that 
smile  put  everything  out  of  poor  Bob's  head. 

"Oh,  dear;  oh  dear!"  he  thought,  "if  only  he  wasn't 
there,  I  could  get  through  it  pretty  well,  and  then  there's 
the  rector  and  Mr.  Burnes — a  pretty  go  it'll  be  if  I  make  a 
mess  of  it  before  them  all !  " 

John  began  waving  his  hand,  "  Lochiel !  Lochiel !  be- 
ware of  the  day,"  and  on  h^  went,  not  missing  a  word  till 
he  had  finished  his  first  speech,  in  a  voice  that  would  have 
filled  even  a  larger  room. 

"  No  wonder  that  boy  never  knows  his  lessons," 
thought  the  rector — who  knew  John  very  well,  and  had  a 
profound  contempt  for  all  poetry  that  was  not  two  thou- 
sand years  old — "  when  he  gives  his  mind  to  such  stuff  as 
that,"  and  it  being  now  poor  Bob's  turn,  he  began  in  a 
very  feeble  voice — 

"  Go  preach  to  the  coward,  thou  death-telling  seer." 

"  That's  one  line,"  thought  Bob,  "  and  I  know  there's 


68  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

three  more,  but  I  haven't  the  least  notion  what  they  are.* 
Mr.  Norton,  who  had  Campbell's  Works  open  at  the  poem, 
softly  prompted  him,  and  Bob  stammered  through  the 
other  lines ;  then  John  began  with  renewed  energy — 
"  Ha!  laugh'st  thou,  Lochiel,  my  vision  to  scorn!  " 
And  he  advanced  nearer  to  Bob,  waving  his  arm  in  a 
threatening  manner,  which  poor  Bob  imagined  was  meant 
for  him  in  propria  persona,  and  not  in  his  character  of 
Lochiel.  "  He  promised  me  a  licking  if  I  didn't  know  my 
part,"  he  thought,  ruefully,  "  and  I  suppose  he'll  keep  his 
word,"  but  in  fact  John  was  only  carrying  out  his  own 
"  ideas  "  of  recitation,  and  declaiming,  as  he  thought,  with 
proper  dramatic  force.  However,  he  frightened  every  word 
of  poor  Bob's  speech  out  of  his  head,  and  when  he  had  con- 
cluded his  own,  Bob  stood  mute,  with  open  mouth,  looking 
vacantly  round  as  if  to  see  whether  he  could  find  his  part 
written  on  the  walls.  Mr.  Norton  softly  prompted  him, 
and  Bob,  stooping  forward,  repeated  eveiy  word  after  him, 
which  made  his  performance  of  rather  a  monotonous  char- 
acter, especially  as  not  a  line  he  said  could  be  heard  by 
one-half  the  audience.  The  rector,  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  his  speech,  had  closed  his  eyes,  and  the  soothing 
tone  of  Mr.  Norton's  low  voice,  and  Bob's  scarcely  louder 
repetition  of  what  he  read,  sent  him  off  into  a  nap,  and 
when  Bob  concluded  with,  "  All  plaided  and  plumed  in 
their  Tartan  array,"  a  very  audible  snore  was  heard,  which 
evidently  proceeded  from  the  rector. 

Uncle  George  was  amongst  the  audience,  and  so  was 


JOHN'S   NEW  "MIXTURE."  69 

John's  mother.  She  felt  very  sorry  for  Bob,  and  very 
proud  of  her  own  boy.  "  How  well  he  does  it,  don't  he  ?  " 
she  whispered  to  her  brother.  "  What  a  pity  poor  dear 
Bob  hasn't  a  little  of  John's  ability  ! " 

"  What  a  muff  that  fellow  Thorley  is,"  thought  Ted  ;  "  I 
know  if  he  were  my  cousin,  I'd  teach  him  not  to  make  such 
a  spoon  of  himself.  It  would  only  be  common  kindness  to 
give  him  a  licking,  just  to  teach  him  not  to  make  such  a 
muff  of  himself  again." 

John  went  nearer  to  Bob,  and  similar  thoughts  to  those 
Ted  entertained  were  passing  through  his  mind.  "  I'll 
pay  you  out  for  this  as  soon  as  we're  outside,"  he  said 
sotto  voce.  Then  he  raised  his  voice,  and  thundered 
forth — 

"  Lochiel,  Lochiel !  beware  of  the  day ! " 

"  I  expect  I  shall  catch  it,"  thought  Bob,  "  and  I  know 
John  can  lick  me  if  he  likes.  He's  getting  into  a  regular 
wax  ;  I  do  believe  he  means  to  pay  me  out  before  them  all." 

It  really  looked  like  it.  John  was  getting  full  of  the 
spirit  of  his  part,  and  sending  forth  the  wizard's  prophecies 
with  a  force  and  energy  that  startled  every  one  in  the 
room,  excepting  the  rector,  who,  good  old  gentleman,  had 
had  a  hard  day's  work  visiting  his  parishioners  at  the  fur- 
thest ends  of  the  village,  and  had  really  earned  the  slumber 
he  was  now  enjoying.  John  pressed  closer  and  closer  on 
his  cousin,  who  retreated  before  him.  "  I  know  I  shall  hit 
back  if  he  hits  me,"  thought  Bob,  "  and  a  nice  thing  it'll 
b-2  to  have  a  fight  on  the  platform.''' 


70  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

"  Rise,  rise !  ye  wild  tempests,"  shouted  John,  and  took 
another  stride  which  would  have  brought  him  in  contact 
with  Bob,  had  not  the  latter  sprung  back,  feeling  thor- 
oughly frightened,  with  such  a  bound  that  his  head  dashed 
through  one  of  the  panes  of  the  window  which  was  behind 
him,  and  then  Bob,  finding  himself  cut  by  the  glass,  and 
no  possibility  of  further  retreat,  shouted  out — 

"  Don't  get  in  such  a  wax,  John  !  Ton  my  word,  I'll 
learn  it  better  another  time." 

This  "  brought  down  the  house,"  as  they  say  at  the 
theatres.  Ted  set  the  example  by  clapping  his  hands,  and 
shouting  "  Bravo  ! "  and  as  those  near  him  could  not  help 
laughing  at  poor  Bob's  predicament,  the  people  in  the  back 
seats  thought  they  were  justified  in  doing  so  too.  When- 
ever the  aristocrats  in  the  threepenny  seats  applauded,  the 
working-folks  in  the  penny  places  always  followed  suit,  and 
they  clapped  their  hands  and  shouted  "  Encore,"  and  al- 
most shrieked  with  mirth,  just  as  if  poor  Bob  had  broken 
the  window  with  his  head  on  purpose  to  please  them. 

The  window-panes  were  very  small,  and  poor  Bob 
found  himself,  as  he  expressed  it,  in  a  precious  fix.  He 
was  afraid  to  move,  for  fear  of  cutting  himself  worse,  til 
Mr.  Norton  came  to  his  rescue,  and  gently  extricated  him. 
The  rector  was  roused  by  the  uproar,  and  opening  his 
eyes,  looked  wonderingly  about  him.  Then  he  saw  Bob's 
position,  and  thought  at  first,  with  the  audience  on  the 
back  seats,  that  it  was  part  of  the  performance. 

"  And  a  very  reprehensible  part,  too,"  the  old  gentle- 


JOHN'S   NEW  "MIXTURE."  71 

man  observed  to  Mr.  Burnes,  and  was  about  to  tell  Bob  as 
much  when  that  luckless  boy  burst  into  tears  ;  "  Please, 
sir,  I  didn't  mean  to  do  it,  and  if  I'm  to  pay  for  the  win- 
dow, who's  to  pay  for  the  sticking-plaster  for  my  head  ? " 

"  Hold  your  tongue,  stupid  !  "  said  John  ;  "  Uncle  will 
make  it  all  right  about  the  window.  Just  wipe  your  face, 
and  come  and  say  what  you've  got  to  say  properly.  I 
never  knew  such  a  mess  as  you've  made  of  the  whole  thing." 

"  Mess,  indeed !  I  think  I'm  in  one,"  cried  Bob,  piti- 
fully ;  "  I  couldn't  say  a  word  more  if  it  was  ever  so." 

Mr.  Norton  settled  the  matter  by  taking  Bob  into  the 
class-room,  where  he  bathed  his  head,  and  John's  mother 
came  there  and  inspected  his  wounds,  which  were  not  very 
serious,  and  were  soon  set  to  rights  by  a  little  sticking- 
plaster,  which  she  sent  out  for.  Then  Bob  resumed  his 
seat  amongst  the  audience,  and  the  performances  went 
on  as  before,  till  Mr.  Fripp  rose  to  return  thanks  to  the 
chairman  for  his  services  that  evening. 

He  was  some  time  doing  so,  as  he  brought  in  several 
other  matters,  amongst  them  an  allusion  to  the  unfortunate 
accident  that  had  occurred  that  evening — the  first  time 
anything  of  the  kind  had  alloyed  the  pleasure  which  the 
Readings  afforded.  He  thought  of  his  own  boots,  but  he 
was  not  going  to  stand  there  and  tell  people  a  joke  had 
been  played  upon  him,  and  he  concluded  by  saying,  "  We 
will  now  wind  up  the  evening's  amusement  by  singing 
1  God  Save  the  Queen.' " 

On  came  the  boys,  and  Mr.  Fripp  as  usual  saw  tha* 


/2  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

they  were  orderly  and  quiet.  He  was  about  to  turn  to  go 
to  the  back  of  the  platform,  when  he  felt  himself  fixed  to 
the  spot  where  he  stood.  He  colored  up  to  his  very  tem' 
pies.  Had  any  one  dared  to  play  a  fresh  trick  upon  him  ; 
and  yet  how  was  it  possible  that  anything  could  hold  him 
there  against  his  will  ?  He  tried  to  lift  his  foot  again,  but  it 
was  useless,  and  there  he  stood  immovable,  while  the  boys 
were  lifting  up  their  voices  all  around  him.  He  waited  till 
they  had  finished,  and  then  tried  again,  this  time  with  more 
success,  for  he  raised  his  foot  at  last  with  such  a  sudden 
jerk  that  he  almost  fell  backwards  into  the  arms  of  Mr. 
Burnes,  who  had  just  come  forward  to  see  if  he  was  ill.  In- 
deed, every  one  was  stopping  to  look  at  Mr.  Fripp,  feeling 
that  something  ailed  him,  and  there  he  stood  on  the  front 
of  the  platform  with  one  foot  free,  but  the  other  gummed 
as  it  were  immovably  to  the  ground.  It  was  trying  to 
Mr.  Fripp's  dignity — it  was  even  more  so  than  it  had  been 
on  the  night  when  his  boots  were  stolen — every  one  was 
looking  concerned,  as  if  they  felt  he  must  be  ill  to  stand 
like  this,  and  better  that  they  should  think  him  ill  than  the 
victim  of  a  joke.  Joke,  indeed  !  what  would  they  not  be 
capable  of  who  played  a  joke  on  Strangeways  Fripp,  Esq. 
But  how  was  he  to  get  away  ?  And  how  explain  the 
very  awkward  position  he  was  in  without  being  laughed 
at  ?  And  when  Mr.  Fripp  thought  of  his  being  laughed  at, 
he  felt  as  if  the  world  must  be  coming  to  an  end.  He  had 
never  been  laughed  at  in  his  life.  Even  his  nurse,  when 
he  ran  about  in  short  petticoats  and  bare  legs,  would  nol 


JOHN'S   NEW  "MIXTURE."  73 

have  taken  such  a  liberty,  and  were  all  these  boys — con- 
found the  little  brats  ! — and  working-men — hang  the  stupid 
clod-hoppers  ! — and  his  own  friends — friends  !  they  were 
always  the  first  to  make  fun  of  any  unfortunate  !  and  ladies 
— there  was  nothing  like  woman  for  giggling — to  turn  him 
into  ridicule  now  ?  Mr.  Fripp's  forehead  became  bathed  in 
perspiration  at  the  bare  idea,  and  again  he  tried  to  lift  his 
foot,  but  the  glue  on  that  must  have  been  more  thoroughly 
melted  than  on  the  other,  for  he  found  the  effort  useless. 

"  I'm  afraid  you're  ill,"  said  Mr.  Burnes ;  "  let  me  take 
you  away." 

"  It's  nothing,"  replied  Mr.  Fripp,  "  only  a  little  faintness 
with  the  heat ;  clear  the  room,  and  it  will  pass." 

People  were  very  slow,  however,  about  going.  They 
seemed  to  take  a  perverse  pleasure  in  looking  at  Mr.  Fripp, 
and  at  last,  tired  of  standing  there,  he  made  one  desperate 
effort  to  get  loose,  and  succeeded  in  freeing  his  foot,  but  at 
a  terrible  sacrifice  of  his  personal  dignity.  Down  he  fell  in 
a  sitting  position  on  the  platform,  the  violent  jerk  with 
which  he  had  wrenched  his  foot  from  the  boards  throwing 
him  completely  off  his  equilibrium,  and  while  Mr.  Burnes, 
the  rector,  and  Mr.  Norton  rushed  towards  him,  thinking 
he  was  either  deranged  or  seized  with  a  stroke  of  apoplexy, 
a  roar  of  applause  and  laughter  burst  from  the  lower  por- 
tion of  the  audience,  who  actually  had  the  presumption  to 
imagine  that  Strangeways  Fripp,  Esq.,  was  a  fit  subject  for 
merriment.  He  stared  around  him  for  a  moment,  totally 
overcome,  not  only  by  the  fall,  but  by  the  sensation  it  had 


74  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

created,  and  then  got  up  and  walked  off  the  platform  witn 
as  much  dignity  as  the  boots  (^  which  at  every  step  kept 
sticking  to  the  ground,  as  if  loath  to  leave  it)  would  per- 
mit him,  mentally  vowing  that  those  unlucky  articles  should 
nevei  be  worn  by  him  again. 

"  What  on  earth's  the  matter  with  old  Fripp  ?  "  said  Ted, 
with  shocking  irreverence,  to  his  friends.  Mr.  Gubbins, 
who  was  standing  by,  heard  the  question,  and  whispered 
mysteriously  to  John,  "  It's  all  along  o'  your '  mixture,'  Mas- 
ter Ashdell." 

"  My  '  mixture ' ! "  cried  John,  in  amaze  ;  "  what's  that 
got  to  do  with  it  ? " 

"  A  deal  more  than  you  think  for,"  replied  Mr.  Gubbins 
in  the  same  subdued  tone.  "  When  it's  hot  it  sticks  like 
wax !    That's  what  kept  Mr.  Fripp  fixed  there." 

"You  don't  say  so!"  cried  Ted.  "John,  I  shall  begin 
to  believe  in  your '  mixture '  after  all.  To  think  of  it  serv- 
ing old  Fripp  out  like  that !  Do  let  me  have  a  bottle  to 
take  back  to  school.  I'll  pay  for  all  the  stuff  costs.  I 
should  so  like  to  try  it  on  some  of  the  masters." 

"  No,  I  don't  like  my  experiments  turned  into  jokes," 
said  John,  seriously,  "  and  as  this  don't  seem  quite  the  thing 
for  boots  on  account  of  its  stickiness  when  warm,  I  sha'n't 
take  out  a  patent  for  it  as  I  thought  of  doing.  But  I've  an 
'  idea'  it'll  make  capital  cement  for  china,  and  I'll  find  all 
the  broken  bits  I  can  at  home  and  stick  them  together  with 
it.  I  don't  know  but  that  move  will  pay  better  than  the 
other.     '  Crystalline  Cement'  I  shall  call  it  now.     I  tell  you 


JOHN'S    NEW   "MIXTURE."  75 

what,  you  fellows,  I  ought  to  make  my  fortune  by  it,  and 
when  I  do  I'll  send  old  Fripp  an  anonymous  present  of  a 
new  pair  of  Wellingtons,  to  make  up  for  the  fix  he's  got 
into  to-night" 


CHAPTER  VI. 

john's   "rational   investment"   of  half-a-crown. 
how  to  board  a  calf. 

~T  HAVE  spoken  of  Uncle  George's  cow, — a  very  nice, 
-*-  useful  creature  she  was,  giving  splendid  milk,  and  plenty 
of  it.  After  a  time  madam  cow  had  a  calf,  which  Uncle 
George  told  Tim  to  dispose  of  as  soon  as  possible  to  the 
best  bidder.  Being  an  Alderney  it  was  not  worth  much  to 
the  butcher,  but  to  any  one  who  had  a  cow  to  act  as  wet- 
nurse,  it  would  be  likely  to  prove  a  valuable  animal.  But 
no  one  in  the  village  seemed  just  then  in  want  of  a  calf,  and 
Tim  at  last  put  it  into  his  cart  with  the  intention  of  driving 
down  as  far  as  Old  Cross,  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  buyer 
for  the  little  creature  there.  He  had  not  gone  far  before 
he  met  with  Joseph  Dale,  an  acquaintance  and  near  neigh- 
bor of  his  Joseph  had  been  to  St.  Maur,  buying  some 
bargains,  and  was  returning  home  very  well  pleased  with 
some  wonderfully  cheap  kettles,  and  a  famous  lot  of  crock- 
ery he  had  secured,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  for  next  to 
nothing."  Mr.  Dale  bought  everything — pots,  pans,  rags, 
bones,  old  chairs,  broken-legged  tables,  worn-out  bedsteads. 


JOHN'S   "RATIONAL    INVESTMENT."       77 

waste  paper,  old  iron — let  it  be  what  it  might,  nothing  came 
amiss  to  Mr.  Dale.  He  did  not  keep  a  shop,  but  lived  in 
a  little  cottage  that  he  had  built  for  himself  on  a  small  plot 
of  land,  which  had  been  one  of  his  bargains,  and  the  front 
garden  now  and  then,  when  he  had  anything  especially  at- 
tractive to  dispose  of,  served  as  an  open-air  show-room.  He 
had  a  perfect  mania  for  buying,  and  never  liked  to  let  any- 
thing slip  through  his  fingers  that  he  could  possibly  see  a 
chance  of  disposing  of  again.  Let  it  be  what  it  might,  he 
was  sure,  he  would  say,  to  turn  a  penny  over  by  it  in 
time. 

Tim  was  perfectly  aware  that  Dale  bought  almost  every- 
thing that  could  be  bought,  but  it  certainly  never  occurred 
to  him  that  he  would  buy  a  calf,  and  he  was  passing  his 
acquaintance  with  a  nod  and  a  "  good-day,"  when  the  other 
stopped  him,  and  inquired  where  he  was  going  to  take  the 
calf,  and  what  he  wanted  for  it. 

"  To  Old  Cross,  and  it  ought  to  fetch  a  guinea,"  replied 
Tim.  "  It's  worth  two  to  any  one  that  has  got  a  cow  to 
take  it." 

Mr.  Dale  looked  at  the  calf,  poked  its  ribs,  peered  into 
its  eyes,  felt  its  legs,  and  would  have  opened  its  mouth 
only  it  was  muzzled,  then  he  said  to  Tim,  "  If  you  like  tc 
take  ten  shillings  I'll  give  it  ye  for  the  creature." 

Tim  shook  his  head.  "  It's  worth  twice  that,  but  say 
iwelve-and-six,  and  you  shall  have  it." 

Mr.  Dale  hesitated  a  little ;  at  last  the  bargain  was  con- 
cluded at  twelve  shillings,  and  Tim,  very  well  pleased  with 


/8  THE  BOY  WITH  AN  IDEA. 

having  found  a  customer  for  the  calf,  went  home  with  the 
money  to  his  mistress. 

"  Whatever  Dale  will  do  with  the  creature  is  more  than 
I  can  tell,"  he  thought ;  "he'll  have  to  bring  it  up  by  hand. 
A  nice  treat  that  for  his  wife !  It'll  be  as  much  plague  as 
a  couple  of  babies ;  however,  that's  her  affair,  not  mine.  It's 
a  chance  if  I  should  have  got  more  than  ten  shillings  for  it 
at  Old  Cross  if  I'd  carried  it  down  there." 

Tim  was  reminded  by  his  mistress  that  he  had  still  to  go 
to  Old  Cross,  as  the  family  were  in  want  of  potatoes,  and 
he  had  been  charged  to  bring  home  a  sack.  There  was  a 
little  delay  in  starting,  as  a  customer  came  in,  and  his  mas- 
ter being  out,  Tim  had  to  attend  to  him  ;  then  just  as  he 
was  about  to  go,  John  came  running  up,  and  asked  Tim  if 
he  was  going  to  Old  Cross,  intimating  that  if  he  was  he 
should  like  to  go  with  him,  there  being  a  holiday  at  school, 
;md  Master  John  having  nothing  particular  to  amuse  him- 
relf  with. 

Tim  demurred  a  little ;  he  had  got  into  such  trouble  on 
the  last  occasion  that  he  took  John  with  him  to  Old  Cross^ 
that  he  was  not  very  anxious  to  have  his  company  now  ;  but 
John  was  urgent ;  he  had  had  half-a-crown  given  him  by  an 
uncle  from  London,  and  he  wanted  to  spend  it.  John  was 
one  of  those  boys — there  are  a  great  many  of  them,  by-the- 
bye — whose  money  always  seems  to  be  burning  a  hole  in 
their  pockets,  and,  it  being  market-day,  he  had,  as  he  told. 
Tim,  an  "  idea"  that  he  could  do  something  better  with  this 
half-crown  than  lay  it  out  in  either  tops  or  toffee.     At  last 


JOHN'S   "RATIONAL    INVESTMENT."       79 

Tim  consented,  and  John  got  into  the  cart,  and  started  ofl 
in  high  glee  for  Old  Cross. 

"  It's  such  nonsense  of  fellows  throwing  money  away, 
Tim,  on  a  pack  of  rubbish  that  only  makes  them  sick ; 
that's  what  I've  been  telling  Bob.  Now,  it's  not  very  often 
I  have  the  luck  to  get  a  whole  half-crown,  and  I'm  deter- 
mined to  do  something  sensible  with  this.  How  are  pigs 
going  now,  Tim  ?  asked  John,  with  the  air  of  a  farmer 
contemplating  an  addition  to  his  stock. 

"  They're  almost  being  given  away,  barley-meal's  so 
lear ;  but  I  don't  think  you'll  be  able  to  buy  one  for  half-a- 
crown,  and  if  you  did  get  it  for  that,  how  would  you  fatten 
it.  Master  John?  Boil  nettles  or  cook  dead  leaves  for  it,  eh  ? 
What  a  pity,  now,  you  did  not  try  your  hand  on  the  calf 
I've  just  been  selling!  only  I  would  not  have  let  it  go  for 
half-a-crown.  Dale's  bought  it — gave  me  twelve  shillings 
for  it ;  how  he'll  bring  it  up  I'm  sure  I  can't  tell.  Perhaps, 
Master  John,  you  can  go  and  teach  him ;  may  be  you'll  be 
as  clever  at  that  as  soling  boots,  or  driving  pigs  from 
market." 

John  pretended  not  to  hear  this  remark  of  Tim's,  but 
it  had  the  effect  of  silencing  him  till  they  reached  Old 
Cross,  when,  leaving  Tim  to  buy  his  potatoes,  he  went 
strolling  round  the  market  with  his  hands  in  his  pock- 
ets, looking  out  for  a  safe  investment  for  his  half- 
crown. 

"  I  should  have  liked  to  have  had  that  calf,"  he  said ; 
"  I've  my  own  notion  that  something  might  be  done  with 


8o  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

it.  But  that  Dale  is  sure  to  make  a  mess  of  the  thing ; 
whatever  should  a  man  that  deals  in  rags  and  bones  know 
about  live  stock  ?  Hallo !  there  he  is,  and  the  calf,  I  do 
believe,  with  him  ! " 

It  really  was  so.  There  stood  Mr.  Dale  with  the  calf  in 
his  cart,  and  he  appeared  to  be  looking  out  for  a  purchaser. 
He  had  taken  it  home,  and  Mrs.  Dale  was  furious  at  the 
sight  of  his  bargain  when  he  showed  it  to  her.  What  was 
she  to  do  with  it  ?  she  asked.  Hadn't  she  half-a-dozen 
children  to  see  to,  and  two  of  them  scarcely  able  to  run 
alone,  and  what  was  she  to  do  with  a  creature  that  would  be 
ten  times  the  trouble  of  a  baby,  and  how  on  earth  could  she 
afford  to  bring  it  up  with  milk  at  fivepence  a  quart  ?  The 
end  of  it  all  was  that  Mr.  Dale  had  to  put  the  calf  in  the 
cart,  and  take  it  to  Old  Cross,  and  there  he  stood  now, 
hoping  that  some  one  would  take  it  off  his  hands.  He  was 
quite  willing  to  dispose  of  it  for  a  much  lower  price  than  he 
had  paid ;  but  time  went  on,  and  he  began  to  doubt  whether 
he  should  not  have  to  take  the  calf  back  again,  in  which 
case  he  knew  not  how  he  should  face  his  wife. 

Tim  had  bought  his  potatoes,  and  came  up  to  Mr. 
Dale. 

"  You're  in  a  hurry  to  make  a  penny  by  your  bargain 
Had  many  bidders  ?" 

Dale  shook  his  head.  "  My  missis  don't  like  the 
trouble  of  bringing  up  the  creature.  If  you'll  take  it 
back  I'm  willing  to  lose  half-a-crown  upon  it." 

"  Thank  ye,"  said  Tim,  "  I'm  very  well  content    to  let 


JOHN'S    "RATIONAL    INVESTMENT:'        8 1 

matters  stand  as  they  are.  My  master  told  me  to  sell  a 
calf,  and  not  to  bring  one  back,  and  I  don't  know  what 
he'd  say  to  me  if  I  did." 

'And  I  don't  know  what  my  missis  will  say  to  me  if  I 
don't  get  rid  of  this  creature,"  replied  Dale  ruefully. 
"  Couldn't  you  take  it  back  at  five  shillings,  Tim  ?" 

"  It  won't  do  to  take  it  back  at  all,"  replied  Tim  ;  "  a 
sack  of  potatoes  was  all  I  was  told  to  carry  home  from  Old 
Cross.  Come,  Master  John,  it's  time  we  were  getting 
home." 

"  I'd  rather  stay  a  little  longer  here  and  walk,"  replied 
John,  turning  his  half-crown  over  in  his  pocket.  "  I'm  in 
no  hurry,  Tim ;  besides,  I  haven't  spent  my  money  yet." 

"  See  if  Dale  will  let  you  have  his  calf  for  it,"  cried 
Tim,  driving  off. 

John  looked  at  the  calf.  It  was  a  very  pretty  creature. 
He  stroked  its  head,  and  examined  it  much  in  the  same 
manner  that  Mr.  Dale  had  done,  and  then  said,  "  Now 
what  is  the  lowest,  the  very  lowest,  that  you'll  take  for  it  ? " 

"  Well,  it's  worth  five  times  the  money,  but  we'll  say 
four-and-six  for  it,"  replied  Dale.  "  It's  only  on  account 
of  my  missis,  or  I'd  never  let  it  go  for  that." 

"  I'll  give  you  half-a-crown,  and  it's  all  I've  got,"  said 
John  ;  "  if  you  like  to  take  that,  and  drive  me  back  to 
Shedley  along  with  the  calf,  I'll  say  done." 

"  So  will  I,"  said  Mr.  Dale  ;  "  I  daren't  face  my  missis 
with  the  creature.  Jump  in,  for  its  time  I  was  back  to 
dinner." 

6 


82  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

Mr.  Dale  drove  John  up  to  the  door  of  his  mother's 
house,  then  he  lowered  the  calf  very  carefully,  and  John, 
half  leading,  half  carrying  the  animal,  went  straight  to  the 
kitchen  where  Martha  was  just  preparing  to  dish  up  the 
dinner. 

"  Goodness  me,  Master  John,  whatever  have  you  got 
there  ! "  she  exclaimed. 

"  It's  a  calf,"  said  John,  gravely ;  but  Martha  might 
have  seen  that  for  herself.  "  And  I  want  you  to  help  me 
bring  it  up  by  hand ;  I've  got  an  '  idea." 

"  Oh,  dear  me,  Master  John,  don't  talk  of  your  '  ideas  ; ' 
whenever  you  do  I  know  there'll  be  some  mischief  come 
of  it.  Take  this  creature  away.  Lor'  a'mercy !  if  it  isn't 
a  drinking  of  the  melted  butter  !  Now  it's  got  its  foot 
in  the  bread-pan,  Master  John  !  If  you  don't  take  it  away 
directly,  I'll  put  on  my  bonnet  and  leave  the  place,  long  as 
I've  been  in  it.     I  never  engaged  to  serve  in  a  cowhouse." 

The  calf  had  upset  the  butter-boat,  and  was  trying  to 
lap  up  the  fluid,  which  scalded  its  nose,  and  one  of  its  feet 
was  in  the  dough,  which  was  rising  near  the  fire.  It  look- 
ed round  feebly  and  helplessly  as  if  seeking  for  its  mother, 
and  wondering  what  strange  chance  had  brought  it  into 
such  a  place.  John  picked  up  the  butter-boat,  took  the 
calfs  foot  out  of  the  dough,  and  wiped  its  nose  with  his 
handkerchief;  then  he  said  to  Martha — 

"  Now,  it's  no  good  getting  into  a  wax ;  we  must  make 
this  creature  comfortable  now  we've  got  it.  Let's  put  it  in 
the  wood- house.     There's  plenty  of  room  for  it  there,  and 


JOHN'S    "RATIONAL    INVESTMENT."       83 

after  dinner  I'll  come  and  cook  its  food.  No,  Martha,  you 
needn't  look  like  that ;  you  can't  get  its  food  ready.  You 
don't  suppose  I'd  trust  you  with  it.  You're  all  very  well 
in  your  way — and  those  dumplings  look  first-rate — but  as 
to  doing  anything  beyond  getting  the  saucepan  ready  for 
me  to  make  the  calf  s  broth  in,  and  stirring  it  while  I'm 
cooking,  I  really  don't  think,  Martha,  you're  compe- 
tent." 

"  Get  out  of  my  kitchen,  do  ! "  cried  Martha,  highly  in- 
censed at  John's  estimate  of  her  capabilities  ;  "  and  take 
that  rubbishing  calf  along  with  you.  There's  Master  Bob 
come  to  see  you,  and  I  know  he  wants  his  dinner ;  you've 
kept  him  waiting  long  enough,  with  your  nonsense.  Missis 
has  gone  to  her  mother's  to  stop  the  day  ;  and  I  don't  know 
what  she'll  say  when  she  hears  of  this  last  new  piece  o'  non- 
sense. But  there  !  "  muttered  Martha,  in  a  lower  tone,  "  she 
does  spoil  Master  John  at  that  rate,  that  it's  no  wonder  the 
boy  never  knows  what  mischief  to  be  up  to." 

John  ran  out  to  speak  to  his  cousin,  who  was  wanting 
his  dinner,  and  wondering  how  long  it  would  be  before  it 
was  ready.  Mrs.  Ashdell  had  asked  him  to  dinner,  and 
to  spend  the  afternoon  with  John,  who  would  be  dull,  poor 
dear,  if  he  were  left  all  alone  by  himself,  while  she  was 
away  at  her  mother's.  The  old  lady  had  been  taken  sud- 
denly ill,  and  Mrs.  Ashdell  was  not  certain  when  she  would 
return,  and  had  been  pleased  that  John  should  have  his 
cousin  with  him  on  his  holiday,  as  she  was  obliged  to  be 
away  herself. 


84  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

"  I've  got  the  biggest  bargain  I  ever  bought  in  my  life," 
cried  John  ;  "  just  you  come  and  see  him,  Bob." 

"  What  is  it  ? "  asked  Bob  ;  "  a  lop-eared  rabbit  ? " 

"Rabbit!"  cried  John,  contemptuously;  "as  if  I'd 
throw  my  money  away  upon  that !  When  I've  got  a  sum 
to  lay  out  I  like  to  do  something  sensible  with  it." 

"  Pouter  pigeons,  then  ? "  asked  Bob.  "  I  saw  a  stun- 
ning pair  the  last  time  I  was  at  Old  Cross.  I'd  have  asked 
the  price,  only  I  hadn't  got  any  tin.     Or  is  it  guinea-pigs  ? " 

"  If  you  ain't  the  greatest  flat,  Bob,  that  ever  was. 
What  should  I  want  with  guinea-pigs  ?  There's  no  eating 
them,  and  they  ain't  productive  in  other  ways  ;  and  as  to 
pigeons,  they  ruin  one  in  peas.  No,  I've  laid  my  money 
out  in  a  rational  manner  this  time :  I've  bought  Uncle 
George's  calf." 

"  His  what  ? "  asked  Bob,  with  wide  open  eyes. 

"  His  calf,  stupid !  Come  along  with  me,  and  I'll  show 
it  to  you,  and  you  may  help  me  put  it  away  in  the  wood- 
house  ;  it's  in  the  kitchen  now.  Martha  was  in  a  precious 
fume  when  she  saw  it ;  but  women  never  can  be  brought 
to  see  the  sense  of  anything.  Come  along,  do  !  Just  hear 
how  she's  going  on  at  the  poor  creature !  But  we  must 
smooth  her  down  a  bit ;  I  shall  want  her  to  let  me  have 
the  saucepan  on  after  dinner,  to  cook  its  food  in." 

"  Oatmeal  and  skim-milk,  I  suppose  ? "  asked  Bob. 
"  That's  what  I've  heard  Uncle  George  talk  of  bringing  a 
calf  up  upon." 

"  You'll    see,"   replied   John,  with   a   significant   nod 


JOHN'S    "RATIONAL    INVESTMENT."       85 

1  That's  not  the  way  I'm  going  to  feed  my  calf.  I've  an 
'  idea '  you  may  do  it  much  cheaper  than  that.  But  you 
stop  here,  Bob,  after  dinner,  and  I'll  let  you  help  me." 

The  poor  frightened  calf  was  taken  into  the  wood- 
house,  and  made  as  comfortable  as  circumstances  permit- 
ed,  after  which  Bob  and  John  came  to  dinner,  to  which, 
though  by  this  time  it  was  nearly  cold,  they  did  ample  jus- 
tice. As  soon  as  it  was  over,  John  said,  "  Now  young 
one,  we've  got  to  see  about  that  calf;  we'll  go  at  once  to 
Uncle  George's  timber-yard,  and  get  the  stuff  for  its  broth." 

"  He  don't  keep  oatmeal  there,"  cried  Bob. 

"  Who  said  he  did,  stupid  ?  Did  I  ever  say  I  was  going 
to  give  my  calf  such  expensive  stuff?  I  want  to  make  it 
pay,  which  is  a  deal  more  than  I  should  if  I  brought  it  up 
upon  oatmeal.  I've  got  an  '  idea '  that  the  right  thing  is 
sawdust." 

"  Sawdust ! "  cried  Bob,  opening  his  eyes  wider  than 
ever." 

"  Yes,  sawdust ;  now  what  is  there  to  stare  at  ?  I've 
been  studying  the  chemistry  of  cooking  lately ;  directing 
my  attention  to  the  concentration  of  nutritive  substances." 
John  had  been  getting  up  some  hard  words  lately,  and  they 
impressed  Bob  wonderfully.  "  Now  it  stands  to  reason, 
don't  it,  that  milk  must  be  the  very  essence  of  vegetable 
matter — just  as  good  strong  beef  tea  is  of  beef?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Bob  ;  "  but  sawdust  isn't  milk." 

"  Who  said  it  was,  ignoramus  ?  but  don't  a  tree  draw 
its  nourishment  from  the  earth  just  as  the  grass  does, 


86  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

which  feeds  the  cow  that  gives  the  milk.  Wtil,  isn't  the 
wood  of  the  tree  its  very  essence  ?  and  don't  the  sawdust, 
which  so  many  people  throw  away  as  if  it  was  good  for 
nothing,  come  from  the  wood,  and  if,  by  any  chemical  pro- 
cess, you  can  get  the  goodness  out  of  that  to  feed  the  calf 
with,  don't  you  get  something  analogous  to,  or  closely  re- 
sembling, the  milk,  which  is  the  calf's  natural  food,  only  at 
a  much  less  expense?  Tell  me  that  now,  don't  you  see 
the  thing  as  I  put  it,  Bob  ? " 

"Well,  I  don't  know,"  replied  Bob,  doubtfully;  "I 
shouldn't  say  it  was  very  fattening,  and  won't  it  stick  in  the 
creature's  throat  ?  It  must  be  rather  choky  stuff,  you 
know,  to  swallow." 

"  Of  course  it  would  be  if  you  gave  it  raw,"  replied 
John,  smiling  superciliously  at  Bob's  ignorance.  "  But 
who's  going  to  do  that?  I  shall  boil  it  down." 

"  Make  it  into  pap  ? "  asked  Bob. 

"  Pap  ?  No  !  It's  milk  I  want.  I  shall  extract  the  es- 
sence by  a  slow  process  of  maceration — that's  to  say,  boil- 
ing in  a  saucepan,  if  I  can  get  Martha  to  lend  me  one — 
strain  it  off  and  give  the  decoction  to  the  calf.  It's  only  an 
experiment,  but  it's  safe  to  succeed,  and  if  it  does  I  shall 
take  out  a  patent.  I  think  I  shall  call  it  Aqua  lignea.  I 
ought  to  make  my  fortune  by  it,  for  I'm  convinced,  Bob, 
that  a  pint  of  this,  and  a  slice  of  bread,  would  give  a  fel- 
low a  better  dinner  than  all  the  roast  meat  and  dumplings 
we've  just  been  having.  I  don't  say  it  would  taste  just  as 
well." 


JOHN'S    "RATIONAL    INVESTMENT."       87 

"  I  shouldn't  think  it  would,"  observed  Bob,  looking 
anything  but  pleased  at  the  prospect  of  sawdust  broth  and 
bread  for  dinner. 

"  But  it  would  be  quite  as  satisfying,  and  a  great  deal 
cheaper.  Only  think  what  a  saving  to  families  !  It's  my 
opinion  I  ought  to  be  knighted,  Bob,  for  making  such  a 
discovery.  If  Parliament  does  its  duty  I  shall  be,  too ;  but 
I'm  afraid  I  shall  have  some  trouble  in  bringing  them  to 
see  the  sense  of  the  thing." 

"  I'm  afraid  so,  too,"  replied  Bob. 

"  But,  come  along,  now,  and  let's  get  the  sawdust. 
I'm  sure  that  poor  thing  must  be  half-starved  by  this  time." 

The  two  boys  took  a  couple  of  cans  with  them,  and 
proceeded  to  Uncle  George's  timber-yard.  They  filled 
them  with  sawdust,  and  then  returned  to  John's  home, 
where,  after  some  persuasion,  they  induced  Martha  to  lend 
them  her  largest  saucepan  for  the  purpose  of  boiling  the 
sawdust  in.  She  had  done  her  work  for  the  day,  and  now 
sat  and  watched  them  while  they  proceeded  with  their 
cookery,  refusing,  however,  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it 
herself.  John  was  a  long  time  about  it.  "  The  process  of 
maceration,"  he  informed  Bob,  "  was  necessarily  slow," 
and  he  wished  to  extract  from  the  sawdust  the  full  amount 
of  nourishment  it  contained. 

"  It  won't  take  long  boiling  to  do  that,"  said  Martha, 
significantly  ;  "  for  all  the  good  it'll  do  the  calf,  you  might 
as  well  give  it  the  water  without  the  sawdust  in  it,  Master 
John." 


88  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

"  Don't  mind  her  nonsense,  Bob,  but  stir  awav,"  said 
John ;  "  there  never  is  any  beating  things  into  women. 
If  you'd  studied  chemistry,  Martha,  which  of  course  you 
haven't — " 

"  No,  Master  John,  and  for  all  the  good  your  studying 
such  like  does  you,  I  should  say  the  less  I  had  to  do  with 
it  the  better.  Mercy  me !  the  mess  your  making  my 
clean  k'tchen  in !  I  think  you  had  better  ask  missis  to 
let  you  have  the  copper  to  yourselves  next  time,  and  make 
your  messes  in  the  wash-house." 

"  That's  a  very  good  notion,"  replied  John,  gravely  ;  "  a 
copper  is  a  much  better  thing  to  macerate  in  than  a 
saucepan.  But  I  think  this  will  do  now,  Bob  ;  let's  turn 
it  out,  and  go  and  feed  the  creature." 

"  Much  the  better  it'll  be  for  it ! "  said  Martha,  as  John 
and  Bob  proceeded  to  the  wood-house. 

They  had  a  little  difficulty  in  persuading  the  calf  to 
take  its  strange  food,  but  at  last  they  succeeded  in  getting 
it  to  swallow  some,  and  leaving  the  rest  for  it  to  take  when 
it  pleased,  they  returned  to  the  fire,  and  amused  them- 
selves the  rest  of  the  day  with  roasting  chestnuts  and 
telling  riddles. 

Mrs.  Ashdell  did  not  return  home  till  John  was  in  bed. 
Her  mother  was  subject  to  sudden  attacks  of  indisposition 
which  generally  passed  away  without  alarming  any  one — 
sven  herself — but  this  had  been  more  serious,  and  the 
doctor  had  been  called  in,  and  was  to  come  again  the  next 
day.     However,  towards  night  the  old  lady  felt  so  much 


JOHN'S    "RATIONAL    INVESTMENT."       89 

better  that  Mrs.  Ashdell  thought  she  might  leave  her  with 
safety,  and  come  home  with  the  intention  of  returning 
to  her  mother's  house  the  first  thing  the  next  morning. 

She  was  so  tired  with  her  day's  nursing  and  anxiety, 
that  she  was  proceeding  at  once  to  bed  when  Martha 
informed  her,  with  a  very  anxious  face,  that  "  Master  John 
had  been  up  to  some  of  his  tricks  again." 

"Well,  I  don't  suppose  they're  very  bad  ones,"  said 
Mrs.  Ashdell,  fretfully  ;  and  you  can  tell  me  about  them 
another  time,  Martha." 

"  Yes,  but  you  ought  to  know  of  this  at  once,  ma'am ; 
I  don't  hold  with  tampering  and  petting  dumb  creatures 
as  if  they  was  so  many  Christians ;  still,  I  don't  like  to  see 
a  thing  killed  by  inches  under  one's  very  nose,  as  it  were." 

"  John  wouldn't  kill  anything,"  said  Mrs.  Ashdell ;  he's 
the  kindest-hearted  boy — " 

"  Yes,  but  there's  killing  with  kindness,"  retorted 
Martha,  who  had  been  quite  long  enough  with  her  mistress 
to  take  the  liberty  of  contradicting  her  occasionally ;  not 
but  what  starving's  funny  kindness,  and  if  it  isn't  starving 
a  creature  to  keep  it  on  sawdust  and  water,  I  don't  know 
what  is." 

"  Whatever  are  you  talking  about,  Martha  ?  "  said  Mrs. 
Ashdell ;  "  I  wish  you'd  tell  me  what  you  mean  and  let  rae 
go  to  bed." 

"Well,  then,  ma'am,  Master  John's  trying  to  bring  up 
a  calf  by  hand  upon  broth  made  out  of  sawdust,  and  if  that 
.sn't  starving  I  should  like  to  know  what  is." 


90  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

"  Dear  me,  what  a  strange  notion  for  the  boy  to  take 
into  his  head  ;  wherever  could  he  have  got  that  from  ! 
Well,  Martha,  I  can't  talk  any  more  about  it  now,  I  really 
am  so  tired.  You  must  look  after  the  poor  creature 
yourself,  and  if  Master  John  won't  give  it  anything  but 
sawdust  broth,  you  must.  We  can't  have  it  starved,  of 
course  ;  that  would  be  too  shocking.  There,  do  let  me  go 
to  bed  now  and  call  me  early  in  the  morning.  I  must 
be  at  Mrs.  Thome's  the  first  thing,  and  I'll  talk  to  Master 
John  about  the  calf  when  I've  time,  and  you  must  look 
after  it  till  I  have." 

Martha  would  have  expostulated  with  her  mistress 
on  the  ground  that  she  had  never  undertaken  to  act  as 
dry-nurse  to  a  calf,  but  she  looked  at  Mrs.  Ashdell  and 
saw  she  was  tired  out,  and  therefore  carried  up  her  candle- 
stick and  helped  her  mistress  into  bed,  much  as  she  had 
done  for  Master  John  years  ago,  when  he  was  a  small  boy, 
and,  as  she  would  have  told  you,  not  half  the  plague  he 
was  now,  with  his  whims  and  his  nonsense  and  his  ever- 
lasting "  ideas." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HOW  THE  CALF  ASTONISHED  SEVERAL  PEOPLE,  AND 
MARTHA  ASTONISHED  THEM  STILL  MORE. 

rT">HE  calf  did  not  make  quite  so  much  progress  as  John 
-*"  had  expected  it  would  do.  In  fact  it  grew  decidedly 
thin ;  thinner  and  thinner  every  day.  John  did  not  like 
altering  his  treatment  of  it,  and  thus  owning  that  he  had 
been  mistaken  in  adopting  it,  but  still  he  began  to  think 
that  if  things  went  on  like  this,  he  must  adopt  some  other 
diet  for  the  calf  or  else  he  should  lose  it  altogethei  He 
brought  Bob  to  see  it,  and  Bob  gave  it  as  his  opini  a  that 
"it  was  in  a  bad  way,  and  didn't  seem  to  get  on  \  th  the 
sawdust  no  how."  Ted  even  condescended  to  look  in, 
and  he  agreed  with  Bob  ;  therefore,  with  some  teluctance, 
John  made  up  his  mind  the  next  morning  to  gi^e  the  poor 
creature  a  little  milk. 

He  could  not  bear  to  tell  Martha  the  resolution  at 
which  he  had  arrived.  "  It  would  make  her  more  con- 
ceited than  ever,"  he  said  to  himself,  "  and  she  was  always 
going  on  now  as  if  there  was  nobody  in  the  world  had  got 
brains  but  herself."     His  mother  had  said  nothing  to  1  lin 


92  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

about  the  calf  as  yet,  her  whole  time  and  thoughts  being 
taken  up  with  Mrs.  Thorne,  who,  though  in  no  danger, 
still  required  great  care  and  attention.  But  Martha  had 
been  very  annoying  in  her  questions  respecting  the 
calfs  welfare,  and  her  speculations  as  to  what  it  would 
weigh  by  the  end  of  the  week ;  therefore,  John  was  deter- 
mined that  if  he  had  to  bring  up  his  calf"  upon  milk  instead 
of  sawdust  broth,  Martha  should  know  nothing  of  the 
change.  He  got  up  early  the  next  morning  and  pro- 
ceeded to  a  farm  at  some  distance,  where  he  obtained 
a  bottle  full  of  milk,  and  came  back  home  with  the  inten- 
tion of  giving  it  to  the  calf  as  soon  as  breakfast  was  over. 
"  It  will  take  all  my  pocket-money,  and  a  sight  more  than 
I'm  ever  likely  to  get,"  he  thought,  as  he  proceeded  to  the 
wood-house,  "  if  this  creature  goes  on  like  this  ;  I  must 
get  rid  of  it,  if  it  won't  take  the  sawdust." 

The  calf  was  looking  much  better  this  morning,  some  of 
the  sawdust  broth,  which  John  had  left  in  a  pail  near  it,  was 
gone,  and  when  he  offered  the  milk,  it  refused  to  take  any 

"  It's  taken  to  the  broth  at  last ! "  cried  John,  triumph- 
antly ;  "  got  used  to  the  taste  of  it,  and  likes  it  better 
than  milk.  I'll  make  sure,  however,  and  try  it  again  ;  I'll 
put  this  milk  in  a  cool  place  and  give  it  to  the  little  crea- 
ture again  when  I  come  home  from  school.  I  begin  to 
have  some  hopes  of  it  now.  I've  evidently  overcome  its 
natural  inclinations,  whic.i  of  course  must  have  been  in 
favor  of  the  milk.  That's  the  first  great  step  ;  all  the  rest 
will  be  easy  work  enough." 


JOHN'S    "RATIONAL    INVESTAIENT."       93 

He  went  to  school  and  told  Bob  he  thought  the  calf  was 
doing  better.  Bob  walked  home  with  him,  when  school 
was  over,  to  see  it,  and  was  of  the  same  opinion,  indeed, 
he  declared  it  had  got  fatter  since  last  night.  More  of  the 
sawdust  broth  had  gone  from  the  pail,  and  the  calf  again 
refused  to  partake  of  the  milk  which  John  offered  it 
There  was  no  doubt  whatever,  both  Bob  and  he  agreed, 
that  it  had  learned  to  prefer  the  artificial  food  to  the 
natural.  Not  that  Bob  used  such  long  words,  he  simply 
echoed  John's,  without  troubling  himself  very  much  as  to 
whether  he  understood  their  meaning  or  not. 

"  I  shall  want  to  make  some  more  of  it  this  evening,* 
said  John  ;  "  will  you  come  and  help  me,  Bob  ? " 

Bob  was  quite  willing,  and  as  John  said  that  all  the 
goodness  must  have  gone  out  of  the  last  sawdust  they  had 
boiled,  they  went  to  Uncle  George's  timber-yard  for  some 
more  as  soon  as  afternoon  school  was  finished,  and  after 
tea  proceeded  to  their  cooking. 

Martha  was  very  good-tempered  this  time,  and  lent 
them  the  saucepan  and  strainer  without  any  demur,  and 
even  when  John  came  after  a  third  visit  to  his  calf,  and  told 
her  it  was  getting  on  famously,  and  would  not  touch  the 
skim-milk  which  he  had  again  offered  it,  and  that  it  had 
quite  emptied  its  pan  of  broth,  she  made  no  further  mani- 
festation of  incredulity  than  a  slight  cough  and  a  "  La, 
now !  wonders  will  never  end.  I'd  go  and  tell  all  the  farm- 
ers in  the  parish  if  I  was  you,  Master  John,  of  your  new 
way  of  bringing  up  calves.     What  a  saving  it'll  make  in 


94  THE  BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

milk  and  butter  if  they'll  only  try  your  new  fashion  !  And 
won't  sawdust  go  up  ?  My  !  I  should  think  your  uncle 
ought  to  make  his  fortune  as  well  as  you  at  this  rate,  Mas 
ter  John." 

John  was  not  quite  sure  whether  Martha  was  in  jest  01 
earnest.  There  was  a  peculiar  twinkle  in  her  eyes,  and  a 
curious  smile  about  the  corners  of  her  mouth,  but  still  she 
was  behaving  in  a  much  more  agreeable  manner  than  she 
was  in  the  habit  of  doing  when  Master  John  was  carrying 
out  any  of  his  notions,  and  there  was  no  doubt  that  the  calf 
was  progressing  well ;  so  well  that  John  thought  that  if  it 
went  on  like  this  he  would  bring  his  uncle  to  see  how  well 
it  was  thriving  under  his  new  mode  of  treatment. 

A  whole  week  went  on  and  still  the  calf  was  thriving ; 
getting  as  stout  and  strong  as  if  it  had  never  left  its  moth- 
er. John's  exultation  knew  no  bounds  ;  he  brought  Ted 
two  or  three  times  to  see  it,  and  even  that  superb  young 
gentleman  condescended  to  say  he  thought  there  must  be 
something  in  it  after  all,  though  how  there  could  be 
any  goodness  in  sawdust  was  more  than  he  could 
imagine. 

John  waited  a  week  more  before  he  proclaimed  his  suc- 
cess too  openly,  and  then  he  could  contain  himself  no 
longer,  but  went  to  see  his  uncle,  and  told  him  of  the 
success  of  his  experiment. 

"  You've  fatted  a  calf  with  sawdust ! "  said  Uncle 
George,  looking  incredulously  at  John. 

"  Haven't  I !  "  replied  John.     "  Just  you  come  and  see 


JOHN'S    "RATIONAL    INVESTMENT."        95 

him.  He  looks  as  well  as  ever  a  calf  did,  I  can  tell  you, 
uncle." 

"  But  you  do  fit  mean  to  tell  me  that  he  eats  sawdust  ?' 
asked  Uncle  George. 

"  Bolts  it  like  winkey,"  was  the  reply.  "  Well,  not 
exactly  the  sawdust,  but  the  water  it's  boiled  in.  It's  a 
maceration,  uncle,  a  process  by  which  I  obtain  all  the 
nutriment  of  the  vegetable  matter  contained  in  the  very 
pith  of  the  tree." 

"  There,  there,  John  !  that'll  do,"  said  Uncle  George, 
impatiently ;  "  I  don't  understand  one  half  you  say,  but 
it'll  be  a  long  time  before  you'll  get  me  to  believe  that 
anything  ever  yet  was  nourished  by  sawdust.  I'll  come 
and  see  the  poor  creature  though,  before  you've  killed  it 
outright,  and  the  sooner  the  better,  for  it  can't  last  long  at 
this  rate.     A  nice  bag  of  bones  I  expect  I  shall  find  it." 

"  No,  you  won't,  Uncle  George ;  seeing's  believing,  and 
you'll  find  there's  more  goodness  in  sawdust  than  you 
thought  for,  when  you  look  at  my  calf.  I  wish  you'd  bring 
Farmer  Prowse  with  you  too,  when  you  come.  He'll  find 
I  can  bring  my  calves  up  cheaper  than  he  can  his." 

"  I'll  bring  him,  never  fear,"  replied  Uncle  George,  "  to 
look  at  this  wonderful  calf  of  yours.  One  is  never  too  old 
to  learn.  It'll  be  something  new  to  Prowse  and  me  to 
learn  how  to  bring  a  calf  up  upon  sawdust." 

John  ran  round  to  see  Ted,  and  told  him  the  calf  was 
going  on  so  well  that  his  uncle  and  Farmer  Prowse  were 
coming  round  to  see  it,  and  as  it  would  be  a  half-holida) 


96  THE   BOY    WJ1H  AN   IDEA. 

that  afternoon,  would  Ted  come  too,  and  ask  his  father  to 
accompany  him.  It  was  something  to  see  a  calf  like  that 
which  had  been  fed  upon  nothing  but  sawdust.  Ted  prom- 
ised to  come  and  do  his  best  to  induce  his  father  to  do  so 
too ;  and  then  John  went  off  to  school,  feeling  as  if  he  had 
more  brains  to  boast  of  as  his  own  share  than  the  master 
and  all  the  boys  put  together. 

School  was  over  at  last ;  it  had  seemed  to  John  as  if  it 
would  never  come  to  an  end,  and  then  he  ran  home  and 
took  another  look  at  his  beloved  calf.  It  looked  fatter  and 
sleeker  than  ever;  a  calf  to  be  proud  of.  John  patted  and 
stroked  it,  and  then  went  in  to  dinner,  which  he  was  too 
excited  to  eat;  as  soon  as  he  had  swallowed  a  few  hasty 
mouthfuls,  he  ran  to  the  garden  gate,  and  looked  out  impa- 
tiently for  his  uncle  and  Mr.  Harley. 

Presently  he  saw  Ted  coming,  accompanied  by  his 
father.  Mr.  Harley  had  been  very  incredulous  as  to  the 
possibility  of  a  calf  being  reared  upon  sawdust  broth,  but 
Ted  had  assured  him  that  such  really  must  be  the  case  if 
John  said  so,  as  he  invariably  spoke  nothing  but  the  truth 

"  He's  a  queer  fellow,  I  know,  sir,  and  has  all  sorts  of 
odd  notions,  but  I  never  knew  him  to  say  a  thing  yet  that 
he  did  not  believe  himself,  and  if  he  says  this  calf"  got  fat 
upon  sawdust,  why  I'd  rather  believe  that  than  I  would 
that  Ashdell's  telling  a  story." 

"  It's  quite  impossible  you  know,  Ted,  that  it  really  can 
be  so,"  observed  Mr.  Harley,  "  there's  some  mystery  01 
other  about  it." 


JOHN'S    "RATIONAL    INVESTMENT."       97 

"Well,  I  don't  know,  sir,  they're  always  finding  out 
fresh  things,"  replied  Ted,  who  had  been  led  by  John's 
boundless  confidence  in  himself  to  have  some  belief  in  him 
too  ;  "  there  may  be  something  in  this  notion  of  Ashdell's 
after  all." 

"  Ah  !  there  may"  said  Mr.  Harley,  "  but  it  will  take  a 
cleverer  fellow  than  your  friend,  Ted,  to  get  any  good  out 
of  sawdust;  if  he  succeeds  in  that,  he'll  raise  sunbeams 
out  of  cucumbers." 

They  were  soon  at  the  gate  of  Mrs.  Ashdell's  cottage, 
and  John,  beaming  with  delight  and  triumph,  led  them  to 
the  wood-house  and  exhibited  the  calf.  Whatever  its  food 
it  certainly  looked  well,  as  Uncle  George,  who  by  this  time 
had  arrived  with  Mr.  Prowse,  owned.  Bob  had  come  too, 
and  having  assisted  in  the  cooking  of  the  sawdust,  he  took 
some  of  the  credit  of  John's  successful  experiment  to  him- 
self. Martha  came  to  the  wood-house  and  looked  on,  ap- 
parently as  much  pleased  at  the  wonder  Mr.  Harley,  Uncle 
George,  and  Farmer  Prowse  evinced  as  was  John  himself. 

"  You  don't  mean  to  tell  me,  John  Ashdell,"  said  the 
farmer,  addressing  John  solemnly,  "  that  this  calf  has  had 
nothing  since  it  left  its  mother  but  water  you've  boiled 
sawdust  in." 

"  Aqua  lignea,  if  you  please,  Mr.  Prowse,"  said  John 
gravely.  "  That's  the  name  I  give  my  decoction,  but  per- 
haps you  don't  understand  Latin  ? " 

"  No,  but  I  do  understand  common  sense,  young 
fellow,  and  it  goes  clean  against  that,  for  me  to  believe 
7 


98  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

that  this  animal  has  had  nothing  but  your  precious  'awker 
for  the  last  fortnight." 

"  And  I  know  it  has  not,"  said  John,  "  not  a  thing,  has 
it  Martha  ? "  he  added,  turning  to  that  good  dame  who  still 
stood  smiling  at  the  door  of  the  wood-house. 

"  Not  a  thing,"  said  Martha,  "  not  a  'versal  thing  but 
three  quarts  of  skim-milk  well  thickened  with  oatmeal  that 
I've  given  it  regular  three  times  a  day  myself  since  the 
first  two  days  Master  John  brought  it  here.  Missus  said 
it  wasn't  to  be  starved  to  please  any  of  his  whim  whams, 
and  if  he  would  not  feed  it,  I  was  to  myself ;  so  I  took  her 
at  her  word,  and  no  one  can  say  I  haven't  done  my  duty 
by  the  poor  dumb  creature." 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

HOW  JOHN  WAS  SENT  TO  SCHOOL  FOR  HIS  GOOD.  HE 
OPENS  HIS  MOUTH,  AND  MAKES  A  GREAT  MANY  PEO- 
PLE   OPEN    THEIR    EYES. 

JOHN  was  very  glad  to  get  rid  of  his  calf  after  this. 
Farmer  Prowse  took  it  off  his  hands,  and  for  some  time 
any  mention  of  sawdust  was  as  unpleasant  to  John's  feel- 
ings as  an  allusion  to  new  ways  of  soling  boots  or  carrying 
pigs  home  from  market ;  still  he  could  not  bring  himself 
yet  to  believe  that  there  might  be  wiser  people  in  the  world 
than  himself,  and  that  all  who  lived  in  it  before  Master 
John  Ashdell  came,  had  not  been  so  completely  ignorant 
of  the  very  first  principles  of  knowledge  as  Master  John 
had  been  accustomed  to  consider  was  the  case. 

"  There's  nothing  for  it,"  said  Uncle  George,  "  but 
boarding-school.  The  larger,  the  better.  I  should  like  to 
send  him  to  a  public  one.  The  more  boys  he  mixes  with 
the  more  likely  he  is  to  have  his  nonsense  thrashed  out  of 
him.  '  I've  an  idea,'  as  Master  John  would  say,  that  he'll 
go  on  like  this  till  he  has  either  killed  himself  or  somebody 
else,  if  strict  measures  are  not  taken  with  him." 


IOO  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

Still  Mrs.  Ashdell  hesitated,  she  had  a  horror  of 
boarding-schools,  and  a  public  boarding-school  seemed 
most  dreadful  of  all.  But  John  himself  condescended  to 
approve  of  the  notion  ;  if  a  great  boarding-school  would 
not  give  him,  like  Alexander,  another  world  to  conquer, 
at  any  rate  it  would  give  him  another  world  to  listen  to  him. 
He  was  rather  tired  of  his  present  school-fellows.  They 
were  mostly  boys  from  the  neighborhood,  who  had  seen 
very  little  beyond  it.  The  boys  in  a  great  school  would 
have  some  "  notion  of  things,"  said  John,  and  be  glad  to 
know  a  fellow  who  could  enlighten  them  a  little.  Some  of 
them  would  come  from  London  ;  some  from  great  towns, 
and  their  views  of  matters  would  be  likely  to  be  altogether 
different  from  those  of  boys  who  have  never  stirred  five 
miles  from  their  native  villages. 

Perhaps  John's  arguments  as  to  the  utility  of  having  a 
wide  sphere  for  display — he  put  it  modestly,  "  going  to  a 
place  where  people  had  sense  enough  of  their  own,  not  to 
be  envious  of  a  fellow  who  might  happen  to  have  just  a 
little  more," — would  not  have  had  much  effect  upon  his 
mother,  had  it  not  been  for  Master  John  distinguishing 
himself,  after  his  own  fashion,  in  a  manner  that  frightened 
her.  He  got  one  of  Uncle  George's  guns  and  fired  it  after 
"  an  idea "  of  his  own,  and  though  luckily  there  was  only 
powder  in  it,  he  blackened  his  own  face  in  a  style  that 
frightened  Mrs.  Ashdell  and  did  some  damage  to  the  gun, 
which  made  Uncle  George  so  angry  that  he  in  his  turn, 
frightened  Master  John  by  threatening  him  with  a  sound 


JOHN  IS    SENT   TO    SCHOOL*  ioi 

flogging  if  he  ever  found  him  meddling  with  anything  of 
his  again.  John's  dignity  was  affronted,  so  he  sulked  for 
at  least  a  week  with  his  uncle  and  kept  away  from  the 
place,  at  which  Uncle  George  was  not  at  all  sorry,  as  he 
was  heartily  tired  of  John  and  his  "  ideas."  Then  John 
struck  up  an  acquaintance  with  a  stoker  on  the  railway  and 
came  home  to  his  mother  full  of  this  new  friendship 
There  was  one  very  good  thing  about  the  boy,  nuisance  as 
he  was,  he  was  so  fond  of  his  mother,  and  so  frank  and 
open  with  her.  He  told  her  all  about  his  acquaintance 
with  Joe  Tims,  and  the  manner  in  which  he  had  astonished 
Joe  by  telling  him  of  several  improvements  that  he 
thought  might  be  made  in  the  locomotives,  and  intimated 
that  he  hoped  before  long  Joe  Tims  would  give  him  a  ride 
up  to  London,  when  perhaps  he  might  have  an  opportunity 
of  showing  him  how  to  put  the  extra  speed  on  when  needed 
and  get  the  passengers  up  to  London  almost  before  they 
thought  they  were  half  way. 

"  If  I  could  only  get  hold  of  the  engine-driver,"  said 
John,  "  I've  got  an  idea  how  a  collision  might  always  be 
prevented  by  shunting  the  trains  off,  just  as  you'd  turn  a 
horse  on  one  side.  You  make  a  safety-valve  to  throw  off 
the  steam,  and  an  extinguisher  to  put  out  the  fire  with 
I've  been  making  some  drawings  of  them  which  I  mould 
like  to  show  him,  it  would  cost  me  something  to  get  the 
real  articles  made,  but  if  he'd  promise  me  to  let  me  have  a 
chance  of  trying  them  I  wouldn't  mind  that.  I've  got  the 
price  of  that  calf;  what  a  shame  it  was  of  Martha  not  to 


102  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

let  me  carry  out  that  experiment  properly !  People  always 
do  seem  so  spiteful.  They  won't  give  one  a  chance.  I 
should  like  to  know  how  all  the  fellows  that  were  the  first 
to  think  of  anything  new  would  have  got  on,  if  they  had 
been  snubbed  and  sat  down  upon  as  I  have  been.  How- 
ever, I've  sold  the  calf  for  a  good  bit  more  than  I  gave 
for  it,  and  now  I've  got  such  chums  with  Joe  Tims,  I  think 
I  can  see  my  way  to  something  better  than  fattening 
animals ;  perhaps  when  I've  time,  and  have  made  my  way, 
I'll  turn  my  attention  to  that  again,  and  do  things  on  a 
larger  scale.  Catch  me  ever  letting  Martha  near  my  place 
then  ! " 

Mrs.  Ashdell  was  horrified  at  the  thought  of  John  carry- 
ing out  his  idea  of  shunting  and  letting  the  steam  off  and 
on,  and  sending  a  whole  railway-train,  luggage,  passengers, 
stokers,  drivers,  and  his  precious  self  as  well,  to  destruc- 
tion. She  went  to  Uncle  George  for  advice,  and  he  re- 
peated that  which  he  had  all  along  given  her.  "  Send  him 
to  school ;  he'll  kill  himself  next  if  you  don't,  and  half-a- 
dozen  people  besides.  Know  more  than  a  stoker  or  an 
engine-driver,  does  he  !  Why,  according  to  him,  he  knows 
more  than  every  engineer  in  the  kingdom.  Manage  a 
railway-train  !  Why  he's  capable  of  managing  a  kingdom 
in  his  own  opinion.  There's  nothing  for  it  but  to  send  him 
to  a  boys'  school,  where,  if  the  master  doesn't  thrash  the 
nonsense  out  of  him,  the  boys  will." 

Mrs.  Ashdell  shuddered  at  the  idea  of  the  thrashing; 
but  the  remembrance  of  John's  readiness  to  go,  reassured 


JOHN  IS    SENT    TO   SCHOOL.  103 

her  a  little.  "  The  dear  boy  thinks  he  would  like  it  him- 
self," she  said  timidly.  "  Not  the  flogging,  you  know,  but 
I  don't  believe  there's  much  of  that  now-a-days,  but  the 
society  and  the  having  boys  of  a  more  intelligent  class  to 
associate  with — it  certainly  would  be  pleasanter  for  him." 

"  I  hope  he'll  find  it  so,"  said  Uncle  George  gravely. 

"  And  where  should  you  advise  me  to  send  him  ? "  asked 
Mrs.  Ashdell. 

"  To  Bessingham  Middle-Class  Grammar  School,"  said 
Uncle  George,  "  that's  where  I'm  going  to  send  my  own 
boys  when  they're  old  enough  to  go.  Uncle  Tummer 
knows  it  well  and  was  educated  there.  I've  always  heard 
him  speak  well  of  it  and  by  all  accounts  it's  none  the  worse 
for  the  thirty  years  that  have  passed  since  then." 

Uncle  Tummer  was  Mrs.  Ashdell's  uncle,  and  a  great 
authority  in  the  family,  though  they  did  not  see  very  much 
of  him.  I  shall  have  more  to  tell  you  of  him  by-and-bye, 
"  I  think  I'll  write  to  Uncle  Tummer  and  ask  him  about 
it,"  said  Mrs.  Ashdell. 

"  You  haven't  much  time,  the  school  opens  for  the  sum- 
mer term  next  week,"  said  Uncle  George ;  "  you'd  better 
be  seeing  about  getting  John's  boxes  ready." 

,£Then  I'll  go  and  ask  John  about  it,"  said  Mrs.  Ash 
dell. 

John  was  full  of  delight  at  the  idea  of  going.  "Bes- 
singham Grammar  School !  I've  always  heard  that  well 
spoken  of.  I  believe  the  Master's  a  very  good  fellow,"  he 
said  patronizingly  ;  don't  go  in  too  much  for  that  old  Latin 


104  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

and  Greek.  Dear  me  !  what  a  deal  those  ancients  had  to 
find  out  to  be  sure  !  I  shall  like  to  go  very  much  indeed, 
mother.  I  wish  Cousin  Bob  was  coming  too,  but  I  dare 
say  I  shall  find  a  friend  or  two  of  my  own  way  of  thinking." 

John  had  quite  enough  to  do  for  the  ensuing  week  with- 
out getting  into  any  new  mischief.  He  packed  up  his  con- 
juring tricks — some  day  he  was  going  to  make  a  new  set 
of  his  own,  and  when  he  did,  neither  Houdin,  nor  the  Wiz- 
ard of  the  North  could  be  compared  to  him.  He  put  up 
his  books,  of  which,  besides  those  required  for  his  studies, 
he  had  a  very  good  assortment  for  a  boy  of  his  age.  He 
said  sometimes,  "  I  don't  go  very  much  by  books,  but  we 
may  learn  a  thing  or  two  now  and  then  from  them,"  His 
aunt  made  him  a  great  cake,  and  Martha  another.  He  had 
one  small  hamper  of  oranges  and  nuts,  besides  some  pots 
of  jam,  two  bottles  of  ginger  wine,  and  ajar  of  preserved 
ginger.  The  village  tailor  made  him  a  new  suit  of  clothes, 
and  his  mother  gave  him  his  grandfather's  gold  watch  and 
a  little  gold  chain.  He  was  to  have  his  father's  watch  when 
he  was  one-and-twenty.  Altogether,  John  was  as  well 
equipped  for  school  as  any  boy  need  be,  and  started  off  in 
excellent  spirits. 

The  school  was  not  on  the  same  line  of  railway  on 
which  Shedley  was  situated,  so  John  had  to  come  up  to 
London  in  order  to  proceed  there.  Uncle  George,  who 
had  business  in  town,  volunteered  to  bring  him,  and  Mrs. 
Ashdell,  after  a  tearful  leave-taking  of  her  boy,  went  to  the 
house  of  her   mother    who  was  again  requiring  a    great 


JOHN  IS    SENT    TO    SCHOOL.  105 

deal  of  attention  from  her.  John  had  very  little  to  say  tc 
his  uncle  on  the  way  up.  He  never  could  bring  Uncle 
George  over  to  his  "  ideas,"  and  they  passed  the  journey 
to  town  in  almost  unbroken  silence,  Uncle  George  reading 
his  paper,  and  John  looking  out  of  the  window,  and  think- 
ing how  much  better  he  could  manage  everything  he  saw 
around  him,  including  digging  the  ditches  and  pruning  the 
hedges. 

Uncle  George  evinced  some  sense  of  his  duties  of  an 
uncle,  however,  when  he  got  his  nephew  up  to  London. 
There  was  no  time  for  sight-seeing  or  for  a  regular  dinner, 
but  he  took  John  to  a  pastry-cook's,  where  he  gave  him 
such  a  lunch  as  John  had  not  often  partaken  of  before.  Of 
course  John  couldn't  eat  it  without  letting  his  uncle  know 
how  he  could  have  improved  upon  the  pastry,  but  Uncle 
George  bore  with  him  patiently  now.  "  He'll  soon  have 
this  taken  out  of  him,"  he  thought,  as  he  walked  out  of  the 
shop  followed  by  John. 

When  they  got  to  the  station  (I'm  not  going  to  tell  you 
which  station  it  was,  as  I  don't  want  you  to  identity  Bes- 
singham  School  with  any  one  grammar-school  in  particu- 
lar) they  found  the  platform  alive  with  boys  of  different 
ages,  from  little  fellows  of  nine,  who  had  just  succeeded 
in  persuading  their  mothers  to  let  them  leave  off  knicker- 
bockers as  too  childish  for  a  public  school,  to  tall,  stout 
lads  of  seventeen  or  eighteen,  some  with  their  upper  lips 
and  cheeks  already  dark  with  the  promise  of  coming  mus- 
taches and  whiskers.     An  open  third-class  carriage  had 


I06  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

been  chartered  for  their  conveyance  as  they  would  thus  be 
all  together,  which  the  boys  considered  a  much  pleasanter 
arrangement  than  being  shut  up  in  small  compartments  in 
the  second-class.  As  to  travelling  first-class,  not  one  of 
them  would  ever  have  thought  of  it,  unless  he  was  coming 
home  invalided,  or  going  down  with  his  parents.  A  rail- 
way platform  is  always  a  noisy  place,  but  you  should  have 
heard  the  noise  to-day  !  Every  boy  seemed  to  think  it  in- 
cumbent on  him  to  talk  enough  for  half-a-dozen,  with  the 
exception  of  one  or  two  of  the  seniors  who,  perhaps,  had 
come  with  their  mothers  and  sisters,  and  were  rather  lan- 
guid, and  grand,  and  supercilious,  and,  in  fact,  as  some  of 
the  younger  ones  said,  were  giving  themselves  "  no  end 
of  airs." 

The  little  ones,  who  had  come  with  their  mothers  or 
fathers,  tried  to  look  brave  and  talk  louder  than  anybody, 
as  if  they  wanted  everybody  to  believe  that  going  to  school 
was  the  pleasantest  thing  that  could  happen  to  them,  and, 
of  the  two,  decidedly  pleasanter  than  going  away  from  it. 
Perhaps  the  boys  who  are  neither  very  big  nor  very  small 
were  the  merriest  and  the  most  at  their  ease ;  they  had  no 
dignity  to  sustain  like  their  seniors,  and  the  great  world  oi 
school  had  become  by  this  time  more  familiar  to  them  than 
it  had  to  those  younger  ones  who  had  been  so  short  a  time 
in  it.  There  were  about  thirty  of  them  altogether;  of 
course  there  were  a  great  many  more  in  the  school,  but 
these  were  boys  who  lived  in  London,  or  like  John,  had 
had  to  come  through  it  from  another  part  of  the  country 


JOHN   IS    SENT    TO    SCHOOL.  107 

John  kept  very  qu  et  (for  him)  and  looked  about  him  while 
Uncle  George  saw  to  the  safe  bestowal  of  his  luggage 
along  with  the  other  boxes  of  his  travelling  companion. 
Then  John  got  in,  and  his  place  happened  to  be  right  in 
the  very  centre  of  the  carriage,  for  which  he  was  not  alto- 
gether sorry,  as  it  gave  him  a  good  opportunity  of  seeing 
his  new  school-fellows.  There  was  a  little  bustle  about 
getting  places,  a  great  deal  of  hand-shaking,  and  some  kiss- 
ing amongst  the  juniors,  then  the  steam-engine  gave  its 
long,  shrill  whistle,  and  amidst  the  waving  of  handkerchiefs, 
the  good-bys  of  mammas  and  papas,  the  hurrahs  of  small 
brothers,  the  shouts  and  cheers  of  the  school-boys  them- 
selves, away  went  the  train,  and  John  was  fairly  embarked 
on  his  new  life. 

"  I  hope  he'll  come  back  a  rational  being,"  said  Uncle 
George.  "  If  Bessingham  doesn't  cure  him,  I  don't  know 
of  any  place  that  will,  short  of  a  lunatic  asylum." 

They  had  fifty  miles  before  them,  and  the  train  was 
only  going  sixteen  miles  an  hour,  so  John  had  plenty 
of  time  before  him,  and  he  leaned  back  quite  at  his  ease, 
to  make  his  observation.  Another  boy  might  have  been 
shy  or  timid  with  such  a  circle  of  new  companions,  but 
John  never  had  any  feelings  of  that  nature,  he  was  so 
thoroughly  confident  and  self-possessed,  so  perfectly  sure 
that  everything  he,  John  Ashdell,  did  was  just  the  wisest, 
best,  discreetest  thing  that  could  be  done.  There  was 
a  tall  boy,  one  of  the  seniors  of  the  school,  just  opposite 
him,  and  he  looked  at  John  with  a  little  curiosity,  then 


108  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

turned  to  a  small,  meek-faced  lad  by  him  and  said,  H  Are 
you  Miles's  brother  ? " 

The  little  fellow  said,  rather  timidly,  "  Yes,  sir."  It  was 
his  first  term  at  school,  and  the  boy  who  spoke  to  him  was  so 
very  big,  and  had  such  a  deep  bass  voice,  and  such  an  im- 
posing manner,  that  little  Miles  was  not  at  all  sure  that  he 
was  not  speaking  to  one  of  the  masters,  who  was  going  down 
with  the  boys  to  see  that  they  didn't  misbehave  themselves. 

"  Miles's  brother,  I  mean,  who  got  the  Exhibition  ? " 
said  the  big  boy. 

"Yes,  sir,"  said  the  little  one  with  a  flush  of  pride,  and 
the  other  boys  leaned  forward  and  looked  at  him.  Miles's 
brother  was  somebody.  Miles  had  done  the  school  credit, 
and  they  were  all  a  little  proud  of  him,  and  disposed  to 
treat  his  small  brother  very  well.  John,  who  was  quite 
tired  of  keeping  silence,  now  broke  in  with — 

"  What  did  he  get  it  for  ?  " 

"  Latin  and  Greek,"  said  the  little  boy,  Miles's  brother. 
"  Classics,"  said  the  big  one  who  had  been  Miles's  friend, 
superciliously,  as  if  he  wondered  at  the  impertinence  of  a 
new  fellow,  who,  from  his  age,  could  only  be  expected 
to  enter  the  fourth  form,  entering  into  any  conversation  in 
which  he  was  taking  part. 

"  Classics,"  said  John  ;  "  oh  !  I  don't  care  much  about 
them." 

"  Don't  you  ? "  said  Miles's  friend  in  his  grandest  tone. 
"  It's  rather  curious,  isn't  it,  you're  coming  to  a  grammar- 
school  then  ?  " 


JOHN  IS   SENT   TO    SCHOOL.  109 

He  thought  of  putting  the  strange  boy  down.  If  he 
had  only  known  him  a  little  better  he  might  have  spared 
himself  the  trouble.  John  stretched  out  his  legs,  made 
himself  as  comfortable  as  his  seat  permitted,  and  seeing 
that  he  was  likely  to  have  an  attentive  audience, 
went  on. 

"  Latin  and  Greek  are  all  very  well,  but  I  don't  think 
so  much  of  them  myself  as  some  people  do ;  Mathe- 
matics are  the  thing  I'm  going  in  for,  though  I  don't 
consider  Euclid  always  goes  the  right  way  to  work.  I 
should  like  to  have  a  little  talk  with  him  about  some 
of  his  problems  ;  I've  got '  an  idea  '  I  could  have  put  him 
up  to  a  thing  or  two." 

"  Perhaps  you'll  be  good  enough  to  tell  the  head-master 
as  much,"  said  Miles's  friend,  while  Miles's  brother  and 
every  other  small  boy,  and  a  good  many  who  were  not  very 
small,  opened  their  eyes  and  listened  with  wondering 
silence  to  this  audacious  new  boy,  who  seemed  not  to  be 
afraid  of  the  great  sixth-form  boy  opposite,  who  was 
perhaps  as  much  astonished  as  any  of  them. 

"  Shouldn't  mind  when  I  get  to  know  him  better.  I 
hope  he's  up  to  a  thing  or  two.  Don't  want  to  stick  too 
much  to  the  old  rules,  does  he  ?  I've  heard  he  goes  in 
for  chemistry,  geology,  and  a  lot  of  other  things  of  that 
kind,  and  a  master  that  does  that,  isn't  likely  to  be  bound 
down  just  to  '  hie,  haec,  hoc, '  or  the  declensions  and  conju- 
gations of  a  lot  of  verbs,  that  after  all,  no  one  on  earth 
was  ever  the  better  for  knowing.     I  don't  suppose  those 


HO  THE   BOY  WITH  AN  IDEA. 

old  Romans  or  Greeks  either,  bothered  their  heads  half  so 
much  about  their  grammar  as  we  do  now-a-days." 

"  You'll  be  bound  down  pretty  stiffly,  I  can  tell  you,' 
said  Miles's  friend.  "  I  wonder,  if  you  know  so  much,  that 
you  trouble  your  head  about  coming  to  school  at  all. 
What  sort  of  a  place  have  you  been  in  before  ? " 

"  Well,  I  was  only  a  day-boy  there.  We  were  all  day- 
boys. It  was  rather  an  old-fashioned  place,  and  the 
master,  in  my  opinion,  was  decidedly  behind  the  times. 
Still  I  got  on  pretty  comfortably.  I  didn't  see  anything  of 
him  out  of  school  hours  ;  the  worst  of  him  was  that  in 
school  hours  he  was  always  down  upon  a  fellow  for  talking ; 
one  couldn't  make  the  simplest  remark  without  catching 
it  How  this  train  jolts.  I  wonder  they  don't  think  of 
some  way  of  preventing  it." 

"  I  should  think  you  might  tell  them  how  to  do  it,"  said 
Miles's  friend  grimly ;  "  such  an  universal  genius  as  you 
appear  to  be,  ought  to  be  able  to  think  of  something  to 
hinder  the  shaking  of  a  train." 

"  Well,  I've  got  an  '  idea '  that  I  could,"  said  John,  "  I've 
a  friend  who's  on  the  railway,  and  I  was  telling  him  my 
views  of  the  matter,  and  he  really  seemed  to  think  there 
was  something  in  them." 

John  was  a  good,  honest  boy,  and  not  troubled  with 
many  ideas  of  his  own  personal  consequence,  apart  from 
his  own  great  cleverness,  but  Miles's  friend  looked  so  very 
grand,  that  he  felt  hardly  disposed  to  say  that  his  friend 
was  a  stoker,  so  that  the  other  seemed  to  have  imbibed  the 


JOHN  IS    SENT   TO    SCHOOL.  Ill 

idea  that  John  was  speaking  of  a  director  or  some  othei 
leading  magnate,  for  with  a  little  more  blandness  in  his 
tone  he  said,  "  Is  your  friend  a  practical  man  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  he's  practical,  very  practical,"  said  John,  "  and  he 
promised  to  introduce  me  to  another  who  knows  even  more 
of  the  working  of  such  matters  than  he  does.  I  must  look 
them  both  up  when  I  go  home  for  the  holidays,  and  in  the 
mean  time  study  the  thing  a  little.  I've  got  an  '  idea,'  you 
know,  that  if  we  were  to  cover  the  rails  with  a  thick  bed- 
ding or  coating  of  india-rubber —  " 

"  India-rubber ! "     There  was  a  general  outcry  at  this. 

"  India-rubber,"  said  John  gravely.  "  There  you  get 
the  desired  elasticity,  which  prevents  the  horrible  bumping 
we're  undergoing  just  now.  You'd  go  as  smooth  and  as 
nice  as  a  sledge  over  snow." 

"  But  how  would  it  wear  ? "  said  Miles's  friend,  who  be- 
gan to  think  there  was  something  in  the  new  boy  after  all. 
John's  evident  belief  in  himself,  his  profound  conviction 
that  what  he  was  saying  was  the  best  and  wisest  thing  that 
could  be  said,  was  beginning  to  affect  even  him.  As  he 
listened  with  some  show  of  politeness,  of  course  the  other 
boys  did  the  same,  and  John  was  in  his  element,  with  a 
whole  carriage-full  of  attentive  auditors.  This  was  some- 
thing worth  coming  to  school  for.  "  I've  got  amongst  the 
right  set  at  last,"  thought  John,  and  he  leaned  back,  cross- 
ed his  arms,  and  went  on  talking  more  fluently  than  ever. 

"  Safe  to  wear,  you  know ;  look  at  the  wear  of  an  india- 
rubber  ball,  and  very  easy  to  renew.     You  make  the  cover- 


112  THE  BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

ing  in  lengths,  which  can  be  put  down  in  a  very  few  min- 
utes. Or  you  might  pour  it  on  melted.  I  don't  know  but 
what  that  would  be  the  best  way.  What  should  you  say 
now?" 

"  Can't  tell,  I'm  sure.  Haven't  studied  the  subject.  If 
it's  all  the  same  to  you  just  mind  where  you're  putting  your 
feet.  You  keep  digging  them  into  my  bag,"  said  Miles's 
friend. 

"Very  sorry;  didn't  see  it," said  John  looking  down  at 
a  great  black  leather  bag  which  he  had  been  making  use  of 
as  a  footstool.     "  Hope  there's  nothing  in  it  I've  hurt  ?" 

"  Only  oranges,  and  I  don't  want  them  made  into  jam." 

"  That's  a  good  notion,"  said  John.  "  Never  thought 
of  that  before.  Why  shouldn't  we  make  jam  as  we  do  wine  ; 
tread  on  the  fruit  till  it's  all  in  a  mash,  then  stir  in  the 
sugar,  beat  it  all  up  together,  and  put  it  in  the  pots  and 
cover  it  over.  It  would  be  a  very  quick  way  and  save  no 
end  of  paring." 

"  Rather  nasty,"  said  Miles's  friend. 

"  Well,  perhaps  it  is  when  you  come  to  think  of  it,"  said 
John,  "  but  still  something  might  be  made  out  of  the 
1  idea.' " 

"  I'd  rather  stick  to  the  india-rubber  rails,"  said  anothei 
sixth-form  boy,  rather  superciliously,  "  I  wonder  Stephen- 
son and  Brunei  never  thought  of  them." 

"  So  do  I,"  said  John,  "  but  Rome  wasn't  built  in  a  day, 
and  there  is  a  deal  to  be  found  out  yet,  if  people  will  only 
go  the  right  way  to  find  it.     I  wish  they'd  pad  the  backs 


JOHN   IS    SENT   TO    SCHOOL.  113 

of  the  carriages  ;  what  with  the  bumping  and  shaking,  and 
the  hard  backs  and  seats,  I  feel  stiff  and  sore  all  over." 

"  Why  didn't  you  bring  an  air  cushion  or  two  ? "  said 
the  sixth-form  boy  who  had  last  spoken. 

"Didn't  think  of  it — besides  I  haven't  got  any,"  said 
John,  frankly  ;  but  I've  got  '  an  idea ! '  Why  shouldn't 
caps  be  made  to  serve  as  air  cushions  or  pillows.  That's 
a  capital  notion.  You  take  off  your  cap,  you  blow  away, 
and  there  you  are — nothing  to  do  but  to  fix  it  behind  you 
anywhere  and  lay  down  upon  it — dear  me  !  if  that  were 
only  carried  out,  one  might  turn  all  one's  clothes  into  air 
cushions,  so  that  one  could  carry  one's  bed  wherever  one 
went — nothing  to  do  but  to  take  off  one's  things,  inflate 
them,  and  then  turn  in.  What  a  capital  notion,  now,  for 
a  fellow  in  the  back-woods  !  Why  he  need  never  be 
without  a  bed  to  lie  down  upon." 

"  Nor  without  a  pair  of  bellows  either,"  said  the  sixth- 
form  boy  who  had  last  spoken,  and  whose  name  was 
Staples  ;  "  if  he's  willing  to  turn  himself  into  one ! " 

John  looked  at  him  rather  disdainfully  and  made  up 
his  mind  that  he  should  not  get  on  with  him  too  well. 
"  Envious  pig  ! "  he  thought.  "  Can't  bear  to  see  another 
fellow  with  more  brains  than  himself."  Then,  feeling  rather 
tired,  and  dry  in  the  throat,  after  speaking  so  much,  he 
took  out  one  of  his  juiciest  oranges  and  began  eating  it, 
and  so  the  time  went  on  till  the  train  stopped  at  Bessing- 
hara. 

8 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HOW  JOHN  GOT  ON  AT  SCHOOL.  HE  DOES  NOT  FIND  THE 
BOYS  QUITE  AS  SENSIBLE  AS  HE  EXPECTED  THEY 
WOULD  BE.   AN  OLD  COUPLE  AND  AN  OLD  BOOK. 

"OESSINGHAM  Grammar-School  was  an  imposing  old 
■*-^  place.  It  had  been  built  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
Sixth,  and  in  its  great  hall  there  was  a  dim  old  portrait  of 
a  quiet-looking  boy,  said  to  be  that  poor  little  monarch. 
There  was  accommodation  in  it  for  above  a  hundred  boys, 
besides  a  good  house  for  the  head-master.  It  was  built  of 
red  brick,  and  had  all  sorts  of  gables,  queer-shaped  win- 
dows, and  chimneys  up  which  the  ivy  twisted.  The  rooms 
inside  were  dark  and  low,  and  there  were  long  rambling 
passages,  which  led  no  one  knew  whither,  seeming  to  have 
been  built  for  the  sake  of  giving  as  much  exercise  to  the 
boys  and  servants  as  possible.  But  it  was  a  comfortable 
old  place  withal,  and  some  modern  improvements  having 
been  introduced  in  the  way  of  ventilation  and  warmth,  the 
school-buildings,  old  as  they  were,  formed  a  very  snug 
abiding-place  for  the  boys  who  occupied  them.  The  mas- 
ter was  popular.  He  was  a  pleasant,  cheery-looking  man 
of  forty- five,   tall    and  portly,  with  the  character  of  being 


JOHN  AT   SCHOOL.  115 

an  excellent  classic  scholar,  and  at  the  same  time  anxious 
to  keep  his  school  well  up  to  the  modern  standard,  which 
requires  that  education  should  consist  of  a  great  many 
things  besides  Latin  and  Greek.  He  shook  each  boy 
heartily  by  the  hand  as  he  entered,  and  had  a  word  or  two 
to  say  to  all.  John's  heart  turned  to  him  at  once.  "  I  like 
the  look  of  that  Doctor,"  he  thought ;  "  I  should  say  that's 
a  man  with  some  sense  in  him.  But  whatever  does  he  go 
on  living  in  this  old-world  place  for  ?  Why  doesn't  he  get 
the  Town  Council,  or  the  Town,  or  whatever  it  is  that  has 
the  management  of  matters,  to  build  a  new  school  ?  This 
seems  so  dreadfully  out  of  date.  I  don't  know  how  a 
fellow  can  be  expected  to  keep  up  with  the  times,  when 
he's  in  a  place  that's  three  hundred  years  behind  them." 

John  got  on  very  well  with  his  lessons.  He  was  clever 
and  quick,  and  they  never  gave  him  much  trouble.  Most 
of  the  masters  liked  him,  too.  John  was  always  well  be- 
haved and  polite  ;  a  good  tempered  gentlemanly  boy,  to 
whom  most  people's  hearts  turned  at  once,  until  he  had 
carried  some  freak  or  other  too  far.  Dr.  Raven,  the  head- 
master, was  very  well  pleased  with  him,  but  thought  him 
rather  peculiar,  having  overheard  him  once  or  twice  dilat- 
ing on  some  of  his  pet  theories  to  his  school-fellows ;  and 
he  resolved  to  become  a  little  better  acquainted  with  'mm 
as  soon  as  the  school  had  settled  down  again  into 
thorough  working  order ;  but  just  at  first  he  had  too  much 
t")  do  to  devote  himself  to  any  one  boy  in  particular. 

The  one  great  thing  John  did  not  like  about  the  school 


il6  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

was  its  regularity.  He  had  always  been  pretty  punctual  ia 
his  attendance  at  school,  hut  he  had  had  a  great  deal  of 
liberty  allowed  him  after  school  hours ;  then  he  had  had  his 
own  little  room,  or  laboratory  as  he  called  it,  where  he 
could  carry  out  his  experiments  undisturbed.  Of  course 
he  had  nothing  of  the  kind  at  Bessingham,  and  though, 
like  other  boys  above  the  third  form,  he  was  allowed  to  go 
out  alone  occasionally,  still  he  had  to  be  back  at  stated 
hours,  and  any  infringement  of  this  rule  the  Doctor  pun- 
ished severely. 

John  did  not  like  this.  It  was  putting  fetters  on  the 
wings  of  his  genius.  He  could  always  think  better  when 
out  for  a  walk,  and  to  have  his  meditations  cut  short,  or 
their  current  diverted,  by  the  reflection  that  he  had  to  be 
back  by  a  certain  hour,  was  very  unpleasant.  "  One  can't 
follow  out  a  train  of  thought,"  he  said  to  Hooke,  a  fourth- 
form  boy,  whom  he  had  converted  into  a  great  admirer, 
"  if  one  remembers  that  one  is  bound  to  be  in  to  dinner  or 
study  hour  at  a  fixed  time.  I  like  the  Doctor,  but  I  wish  I 
could  get  him  to  see  that  such  strict  regularity  is  not  alto- 
gether desirable.  What's  dinner,  when  one's  just  on  the 
point  of  making  a  great  discovery,  that  one  should  hurry 
back,  and  send  one's  meditations  to  the  winds,  just  that 
one's  mutton  may  not  be  overcooked,  or  the  boiled  beef  get 
cold.  Dinner  indeed  !  I  often  wish,  when  I  hear  that 
great  bell  ringing  the  quarter  of  an  hour's  notice,  that  there 
was  not  such  a  thing  as  dinner  in  the  world." 

"  I  don't ! "    said  Hooke,  solemnly.     He  was  a  round. 


JOHN  AT   SCHOOL.  117 

pudding-faced  boy,  and  brought  his  words  out  with  great 
slowness  and  deliberation. 

"  I  know  what  I  do  wish  instead,  and  I  should  be  very 
glad  some  day  or  other  that  you'd  have  an  idea  how  that 
could  be  brought  about." 

"  Well  what  is  it  ?  "  said  John,  patronizingly.  "  Speak 
out — perhaps  I  may  manage  it  for  you." 

"  That  there  could  be  two  dinners  every  day ! "  cried 
Hooke,  enthusiastically,  "My!  wouldn't  that  be  worth 
coming  to  school  for." 

John  turned  from  his  young  admirer  in  disgust,  but  the 
feeling  only  lasted  a  moment.  He  could  not  afford  to 
quarrel  with  him.  Hooke's  belief  in  and  admiration  of  him 
were  very  precious.  Miles's  friend — whom  I  may  as  well 
introduce  at  once  under  his  rightful  name  of  Hart — was 
given  to  jeering,  and  satirized  him  a  little,  and  Staples 
ridiculed  him  unmercifully.  Master  John  was  beginning 
to  find  out  the  difference  between  a  large  school  and  a 
small  one ;  besides,  there  were  many  boys  at  Bessingham 
older  than  himself,  while  at  Shedley  they  had  all  been  of 
his  own  age,  or  younger.  Hooke  and  a  few  others  were 
overpowered  by  his  flow  of  words,  and  the  wonderful  con- 
fidence he  had  in  himself;  but  the  generality  of  the  boys 
were  more  influenced  by  Hart  or  Staples.  And  John 
liked  to  be  believed  in; — he  might  sneer  at  people  and 
their  stupidity,  and  say  they  were  beneath  his  notice,  but 
still  he  felt  disheartened  and  vexed  when  he  found  every 
one  disposed  to  treat  him  as  Uncle  George  always  did.     So 


Il8  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

he  did  not  like  to  quarrel  with  Hooke,  and  very  soon  an 
opportunity  occurred  of  testing  how  much  that  youth  and 
some  others  believed  in  him. 

There  was  a  dingy  little  shop  in  Bessingham  kept  by  an 
old  man  and  his  wife,  who  were  themselves  as  great 
antiquities  as  the  curiosities  in  which  they  dealt.  They 
sold  (whenever  they  got  a  customer,  which  was  very 
rarely)  old  pictures,  carved  furniture,  and  curious  books 
and  china.  John  liked  hanging  about  this  shop — some- 
times he  got  into  a  talk  with  the  old  man,  who  was  almost 
as  crotchety  and  peculiar  as  John.  With  the  old  woman 
he  had  very  little  to  do  as  she  was  shy  and  timid,  but 
Reuben  Flint,  when  you  came  to  know  him,  had  a  great 
deal  to  say  for  himself,  or  rather  for  those  things  in  which 
he  especially  delighted,  and  on  the  whole  John  considered 
him  rather  a  desirable  acquaintance. 

Reuben  liked  John,  because  of  all  the  Grammar-School 
boys  he  was  the  only  one  who  never  ridiculed  him.  John 
was  certainly  a  good-hearted  boy,  and  would  not  have 
thought  any  old  man  a  fit  person  to  be  made  the  subject 
of  jokes;  but  he  really  thought  Reuben  a  very  clever 
tellow.  "There's  a  great  deal  in  that  old  man,"  he  said  to 
Hooke ;  "  I  believe  he  knows  a  great  deal  more  than 
people  give  him  credit  for.  I  don't  say  just  your  Latin 
and  Greek,  but  they're  not  the  only  things  worth  knowing 
in  the  world.  Do  you  know,  since  I've  seen  him  I've 
learned  a  thing  or  two  that  I  never  dreamed  of  before." 

And  then  John  looked  astounded,  as  if  it  were  some- 


yOHN  AT   SCHOOL.  119 

thing  almost  incredible  that  there  should  be  any  one 
found  capable  of  teaching  Master  John  Ashdell  more 
than  he  knew  already. 

One  half-holiday  John  went  to  see  his  friend  Reuben. 
He  found  him  sitting  in  the  back-parlor  with  a  great  old 
book  upon  his  knees.  His  wife  opposite  him  was  stirring 
a  pot  that  hung  over  the  fire,  in  which  she  was  concocting 
some  broth,  that  had  not  a  particularly  appetizing  savor. 
As  John  looked  at  her — so  old,  so  wrinkled,  so  dirty,  and 
so  ugly — he  thought  of  the  stories  he  had  read  of  witches 
and  their  decoctions.  The  back  parlor  itself  was  just  the 
scene  for  a  witch  and  a  wizard  to  dwell  in.  A  great 
stuffed  crocodile  was  slung  across  the  ceiling.  In  one 
recess  of  the  room  was  a  curiously  carved  chest,  at  least 
three  hundred  years  old,  and  it  was  adorned  with  death's 
heads  and  cross-bones  among  other  devices,  so  that  being 
quite  black  with  age  and  worm-eaten  as  well,  it  had  not 
the  most  cheerful  appearance.  Some  old  armor — shields 
and  breastplates — hung  on  the  walls,  and  in  one  corner 
was  a  skeleton,  said  to  be  that  of  a  famous  robber  of 
Charles  the  Second's  time.  Reuben  Flint  had  a  mania  for 
buying,  no  matter  whether  he  was  likely  to  sell  again  or 
not.  Indeed  he  was  very  much  richer  than  from  his  style 
of  living  and  appearance  anyone  would  have  imagined; 
but  he  was  fond  of  hoarding,  and  could  not  bear  to  part 
with  his  money,  unless  for  some  curious  or  antique  acqui- 
sition. He  was  miserly  in  all  but  that ;  perhaps,  indeed, 
the  accumulated  treasures  around  him  were  only  signs  of 


120  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

miserliness  taking  another  form.  He  generally  contrived 
to  secure  them  cheaply,  but  even  when  he  had  a  good 
offer  for  any  one  of  his  possessions,  he  seemed  to  find 
it  hard  to  part  with  it. 

He  was  so  wrapped  up  in  his  book  that  he  did  not  at 
first  hear  John,  who  sat  quietly  down  on  one  of  the  three 
chairs  in  the  room — all  of  which  with  the  table,  were 
supposed  to  be  as  old  as  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth — 
and  looked  at  the  old  couple,  and  thought  what  strange- 
"ooking  creatures  they  were,  possibly  wondering,  as  boys 
sometimes  do,  whether  he  could  ever  be  as  aged  and  as 
wrinkled  and  as  feeble,  as  the  old  man  before  him.  Mrs. 
Flint  was  the  first  to  see  him,  but  she  stirred  her  broth, 
and  said  nothing.  It  was  believed  that  she  never  did 
speak  above  half-a-dozen  words  a  day,  so  that  it  was 
hardly  likely  she  would  have  one  of  the  six  to  spare  for 
him.  Presently  Reuben  raised  his  eyes,  and  fixed  them 
on  John  without  speaking.  It  was  such  a  set,  steady  stare, 
almost  as  if  he  were  seeing  something  right  beyond  John, 
that  Teddy  Hooke,  who  had  come  with  his  friend,  was 
rather  frightened,  and  creeping  up  to  the  other  said,  "  I 
say,  I  wish  you'd  hook  it.  The  old  chap  looks  uncom- 
monly queer." 

Reuben  closed  the  book.  It  was  written  in  what  they 
call  Black  Letter,  and  bound  in  brown  vellum,  with  great 
brass  clasps.  Then  he  gave  a  sigh,  and  rising  up,  placed 
it  almost  reverently  on  the  top  of  the  great  chest  with  the 
death's-heads,  and  coming  back  to  his  chair  sat  down,  an  3 


JOHN  AT   SCHOOL,  121 

look'ng  at  John  said,  "  That's  a  wonderful  book,  and  he 
was  a  wonderful  man  that  wrote  it." 

"  Who  was  he  ? "  asked  John,  "  and  what's  it  about  ?  " 

"  The  greatest  art  of  all — the  art  of  making  gold  ! " 
said  Reuben,  and  his  eyes  fairly  sparkled  as  he  spoke. 
"  What  a  man  !  What  a  man  to  know  !  If  he  were  only 
living  now,  that  one  might  see  and  speak  to  him — learn  a 
little  more  of  what  he  tells  us  in  that  wonderful  volume  ! " 

"  Making  gold  !  "  said  John.  "  Well,  I've  heard  of  that, 
but  I  never  believed  in  it." 

"  I  suppose  he  went  to  the  diggings,"  said  Teddy 
Hooke,  and  John  turned  from  him  with  contempt.  "  I 
shouldn't  wonder,"  he  said  to  Reuben,  "  but  that  there  was 
something  in  that  notion.  I've  got  an  '  idea '  that  we 
might  make  gold,  if  we  gave  our  attention  to  the  matter. 
I  should  like  to  look  at  that  book.  Would  you  mind  lend- 
ing it  to  me  ?  " 

Reuben  shook  his  head.  "  It  would  come  back  in  a 
pretty  state  if  once  I  let  it  go  to  your  school ;  but  you're  a 
good  lad,  and  have  got  more  sense  in  you  than  a  great 
many.     You  may  come  here  and  read  it  at  odd  times." 

"  May  I  stop  now  and  look  at  it  ?  "  asked  John,  eagerly. 
u  I  needn't  be  back  for  these  two  hours.  Do  let  me 
stop." 

"  You — you  don't  want  me  to  keep  here  too  ?  "  asked 
Teddy,  looking  timid.     "  I'd  rather  get  back  to  football." 

"  No,  I  don't  want  you,"  answered  John.  "  I  shall  be 
best  quiet.     Run  along  with  you,  and  don't  tell  any  of  the 


122  THE  BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

fellows  where  I  am.     I  don't  wish  for  any  of  their  re« 
marks." 

Teddy  went  away  very  well  pleased  to  get  out  of  the 
gloom,  and  away  from  the  skeleton  and  dingy  possessions 
of  Reuben  Flint,  to  the  light  and  the  fresh  spring  air. 
John  sat  down,  and  was  silent — with  the  exception  of  an 
occasional  burst  of  admiration,  or  an  exclamation  of  won- 
der— for  the  full  two  hours  that  he  had  allowed  himself ; 
then  he  went  out,  thanking  Reuben  Flint  with  much  grav- 
ity for  having  allowed  him  to  see  the  book,  and  passed  the 
rest  of  the  evening  in  unusual  silence ;  though,  to  judge 
by  the  manner  in  which  his  lessons  and  themes  were  pre- 
pared, his  work  was  very  little  the  better  for  this  very 
remarkable  taciturnity. 


CHAPTER    X. 

A    JOINT-STOCK    CONCERN.         HOW    JOHN    SETS    HIS    JOT 
BOILING. 

T  I  ^HE  next  day  when  school  was  over,  John  went  t)j 
-*-  Teddy  Hooke,  and  said  he  should  like  to  take  a  stroll 
with  him  as  far  as  the  Castle.  This  was  within  the  bounds 
in  which  the  boys  were  allowed  to  roam  by  themselves,  and 
Teddy  being  ready,  off  the  two  started.  Bessingham 
Castle  had  been  a  grand  old  place  in  its  time,  and  its  ruins 
were  massive  and  imposing.  The  walls  were  of  an  enor 
mous  thickness,  and  the  stonework  of  several  of  the  tow- 
ers was  still  nearly  perfect.  There  were  subterranean 
vaults,  which  common-place  people  said  had  been  used 
for  the  storage  of  fuel,  and  those  of  more  exalted  imagin- 
ations, like  John,  believed  to  have  been  either  prisons  or 
hiding-places  in  the  time  of  danger.  John  had  very  often 
wandered  about  the  Castle,  thinking  how  much  better  he 
could  have  built  it,  and  how,  if  he  had  been  living  at  the 
time,  and  the  construction  of  Bessingham  Castle  had  been 
left  to  him,  he  would  have  taken  care  that  it  should  have 
as  much  light  and  ventilation  as  any  modern  mansion,  and 


124  THE    B0Y    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

yet  have  been  so  strongly  built,  that  cannon-shot  should 
have  no  more  effect  upon  it  than  so  many  peas  from  a  pea- 
shooter. Perhaps  Teddy  thought  he  was  going  to  hear 
something  like  this  to-day,  for  he  came  out  provided  with  a 
pocketful  of  biscuits,  that  he  might  have  something  to 
employ  himself  on  while  listening  to  John's  remarks 
Teddy  was  a  wonderful  boy  for  eating — perhaps  that  was 
one  reason  he  was  so  good  a  listener.  He  couldn't  well 
talk  when  his  mouth  was  full  of  fruit  or  cakes. 

John  walked  on  silently  through  the  one  street  of  the 
quiet  old  town,  which,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  Grammar- 
School  boys,  would  have  seemed  to  have  gone  to  sleep 
for  ever ;  through  the  winding  path  which  led  by  the 
Church — which  was  as  old  as  the  town ;  and  the  church- 
yard, which  was  very  little  quieter,  and  so  on  to  the  rising 
ground  where  stood  Bessingham  Castle,  looking  over  a 
wide  expanse  of  meadow  and  corn-field,  with  trees  now 
green  with  their  early  foliage,  and  hedges  white  and  fra- 
grant with  hawthorn-blossoms. 

They  passed  through  the  great  court-yard  and  sat 
down  outside,  leaning  against  the  ruins  of  what  had  once 
been  an  outer  wall.  John  looked  carefully  around  him  to 
see  that  no  one  was  near  enough  to  hear  what  he  was 
about  to  say  ;  and,  having  satisfied  himself  that  he  was 
perfectly  safe,  began  solemnly — 

"  Hooke,  I've  been  thinking." 

Teddy  took  the  biscuit  which  he  was  just  about  to 
bite,  away  from  his  mouth,  and  said  gravely — 


A    JOINT-STOCK    CONCERN.  125 

"  You  mostly  are.  I  wonder  how  your  brains  stand  it  * 
What's  up  now? " 

"  I  lay  awake  half  last  night  thinking  about  that  book 
that  Flint  showed  me,"  answered  John.  "  I'm  satisfied 
there's  more  to  be  done  in  that  way  than  he,  or  any  one 
else  but  just  myself,  has  a  notion  of.  Only  think  of  it ! 
Make  our  fortunes  !  Just  to  be  as  rich  as  a  dozen  Lord 
Mayors  melted  into  one,  and  every  King  in  the  world  into 
the  bargain." 

"  How  are  you  going  to  do  it  ? "  asked  Teddy. 

"  Well,  I've  got  an  '  idea '  or  two  about  that,  but  one 
wants  a  little  time  to  settle  matters,  and  we  shall  need  a 
few  things  to  go  to  work  with.  How  are  you  off  for 
pocket-money,  Hooke  ? " 

"  Spent  all  I've  brought,  and  my  last  week's  allowance," 
answered  Teddy.  "  I  shall  have  sixpence  next  Saturday, 
but  I  don't  see  how  I  can  spare  it.  You  don't  want  to 
borrow  it,  do  you  ? " 

"Well,  sixpence  wouldn't  be  much  help,  or  else  I 
might  have  put  you  in  the  way  of  making  your  fortune. 
I'm  pretty  well  off;  I've  had  nothing  much  to  spend  mine 
on  since  I  came  down  here." 

"No,  you  don't  care  for  grub,"  said  Teddy.  "No 
wonder  the  other  fellows  say  you're  so  odd." 

"  I  like  to  spend  money  sensibly,"  said  John,  in  his 
grandest  tone,  "  and  do  something  with  it.  What's  the 
good  of  throwing  it  away  on  cakes  and  lollipops  ?  Not 
that  I  mean  to  hurt  your  feelings,  Hooke.     I  suppose  you 


126  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

can't  help  being  so  fond  of  eating.  But  you're  a  good  fel- 
low, and  I  think  you've  got  more  brains  than  people  credit 
you  with ;  and  though  you  haven't  got  any  money  to  put 
into  the  concern,  I  don't  mind  making  your  fortune.  I* 
isn't  much  to  do  while  one's  about  it,"  John  continued,  in 
his  loftiest  tone.  "  But  don't  you  think  any  of  the  others 
have  got  some  tin  ?  We  must  have  some,  you  know.  We 
can't  make  gold  without." 

"  There's  Staples,"  replied  Teddy ;  "  he's  always  got  a 
lot." 

"  Oh !  I  don't  want  to  have  anything  to  do  with  Sta- 
ples. He's  one  of  those  who  thinks  no  one  has  a  grain  of 
sense  but  themselves.  Indeed,  I  don't  like  the  sixth  form 
altogether.  They're  an  envious  lot — don't  seem  as  if  they 
could  forgive  a  fellow  having  more  brains  than  they  have. 
No,  I'll  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  of  them.  But  I  think 
there's  little  Rodwell,  and  Grosse ;  and  young  Miles — if 
he'll  only  leave  off  talking  about  his  brother — I'll  let  him 
in.  It'll  be  a  first-rate  chance  for  him,"  added  John,  good 
naturedly.  "  I  don't  think  his  people  are  very  well  off 
Well,  they  might  put  in  what  little  they've  got.  I'll  throw 
in  all  mine,  and  I  expect  I've  as  much  as  the  rest  of  them 
put  together ;  and  will  take  you  in  for  nothing,  if  you  give 
your  services.  You  shall  be  secretary,  and  paid  with  a 
share  of  the  profits.  Then  you'll  have  to  keep  accounts, 
and  we'll  share  out  according  to  what  we  put  in.  Of  course 
I  shall  have  the  most,  but  then  I  shall  put  the  most  in,  be- 
sides originating  the  idea,  so  that'll  be  only  fair  you  know/ 


A    JOINT-STOCK   CONCERN.  127 

Teddy  nodded  :  "  But  what  do  you  want  money  for,  ii 
you  are  going  to  make  it  ? " 

"  Oh !  you  soft ! "  cried  John,  impatiently  ;  "we  can't 
make  money,  any  more  than  anything  else,  out  of  nothing. 
We  shall  want  a  furnace  and  a  crucible.  I  saw  an  earthen 
pot  as  I  came  through  the  town,  that  I  think  would  be  just 
the  very  thing.  Then  we  shall  want  some  chemicals. 
Look  here,  I've  written  them  all  down.  I  did  it  while  old 
Flint  had  gone  into  the  shop.  I  don't  think  I  shall  take 
him  into  the  concern — it  mightn't  be  so  pleasant  for  you 
fellows.  Indeed,  I  think  if  I  had  him  in,  he  wouldn't  come 
to  work  with  you,  and  I  think,  you  know,  when  a  fellow  is 
in  a  school,"  said  John  with  an  air  of  great  magnanimity, 
"  he  ought  to  stick  by  it." 

"  But  where  shall  we  put  the  furnace  ? "  asked  Teddy. 
*'  I  don't  think  the  Doctor  will  give  us  leave  to  set  it  up 
anywhere  about  the  school." 

"  I  don't  suppose  he  will,"  cried  John ;  "  and  if  he 
would,  I  shouldn't  be  such  a  flat  as  to  set  the  thing  up 
where  all  the  fellows  could  see  what  was  going  on.  I  want 
to  keep  this  to  ourselves.  There's  no  need  to  have  all  the 
school  wanting  to  go  shares  with  us,  which  they're  safe  u. 
do  when  they  find  out  what's  going  on.  No  ;  I've  got  an 
'  idea '  we  might  find  a  snug  little  corner  somewhere  about 
this  old  place.  There  must  be  lots  of  odd  nooks  where  we 
might  set  up  a  furnace,  and  nobody  be  the  wiser.  Of 
course  it'll  cost  us  something  to  buy  it — that's  what  I  want 
you  all  to  club  together  for.     But  it  won't  be  much,  and  I 


128  THE    BOY    WITH    AN-   IDEA. 

vote  we  come  next  half-holiday  and  look  about  for  a  hiding 
place;  and   between   this  and  then,  we'll  sound  Rodwell 
and  Grosse,  and  little  Miles,  and  see  if  they're  willing  to 
go  shares  in  the  concern." 

Teddy  walked  back  to  school  very  much  puzzled,  and 
yet  a  little  elated.  John  showed  him,  as  they  went  through 
the  town,  the  earthen  pot  that  he  thought  might  be  made  to 
serve  for  a  crucible.  What  a  "  crucible  "  was,  Teddy  Hooke 
had  not  the  remotest  idea,  but  altogether  the  notion  of  mak- 
ing gold  seemed  such  a  very  fine  one,  that  he  volunteered  to 
give  up  his  next  Saturday's  sixpence  towards  the  prelimin- 
ary expenses.  Little  Miles,  Grosse,  and  Rodwell  were  all 
three  ready  to  join  and  club  their  funds  together.  Teddy 
Hooke  was  confirmed  in  his  post  of  secretary — the  duties 
consisting  in  keeping  an  account  of  the  expenditure  and 
the  subsequent  winnings.  "  And  you  just  work  well  at 
your  figures,"  said  John;  "for  when  we  do  begin  making 
money,  you'll  find  enough  to  do  in  keeping  accounts ! " 

Next  half-holiday,  John  went  off  quietly  to  the  Castle 
to  look  for  a  suitable  place  for  his  furnace.  He  went 
alone,  that  he  might  not  attract  attention ;  and  the  boys 
svho  were  in  his  confidence  started  off  together,  in  order  to 
have  a  little  quiet  talk  about  the  wonders  they  expected 
John  Ashdell  would  bring  about  for  them. 

The  great  things  they  were  going  to  do  !     Little  Miles 

said   he   wouid   give   his   mother   a   pony-chaise,  and    his 

brother  a  room  full  of  books.     Grosse  said  he  would  have 

pony  to  Ivmself,  and  a  velocipede.     Rodwell  would  be 


A    JOINT-STOCK   CONCERN.  1 29 

content  with  nothing  less  than  a  hunter ;  while  Teddy 
Hooke  said  that  he  would  have  macaroons  for  breakfast 
and  plumcake  for  dinner  every  day  of  the  week.  They 
looked  very  mysterious  and  very  wise,  and  walked  about 
with  a  pleasant  consciousness  of  their  own  importance  the 
whole  of  the  afternoon,  while  John  was  peering  into  every 
nook  and  corner  of  the  Castle. 

At  last  he  met  with  an  unexpected  treasure.  Down  in 
one  of  the  vaults  or  cellars,  of  which  I  have  spoken,  he 
came  to  what  was  certainly  the  remains  of  a  stove,  and  in 
very  fine  order.  John  made  up  his  mind  at  once  that 
this  must  have  been  the  furnace  of  some  alchemist,  who 
had  fixed  his  quarters  there  in  old  times.  In  truth,  it  had 
been  put  in  the  Castle  about  half-a-century  ago  by  an  ec- 
centric old  man  who  chose  to  live  rent-free,  and  had  gain- 
ed the  nickname  of  Hincks  the  Miser.  John  looked  well 
about  by  the  light  of  the  candle  which  he  carried  with  him, 
and  was  satisfied  that  by  a  re-arrangement  of  the  loose 
stones  lying  about,  their  alchemic  operations  might  be 
carried  on  unmolested.  The  stove  would  want  fixing  a 
little  tighter,  and  of  course  firewood  and  coke  would  have 
to  be  provided.  "  I  should  think  they  must  have  burned 
coke  in  those  days,"  said  John;  "it  seems  just  the  right 
sort  of  thing  for  a  stove  like  this.  It  never  occurred  to 
John  that  coke  could  hardly  have  been  burnt  in  days  when 
gas  was  unknown. 

He  was  very  much  pleased  with  his  discovery,  but  in- 
stead of  going  at  once  to  inform  his  friends  of  it,  he  thought 
9 


I30  THE    BOY    {VI Til  AN   IDEA. 

he  would  rather  have  a  little  talk  with  Reuben  Flint.  "  I 
said  I  would  not  have  him  in  it  at  all,  he  thought,  "but 
I  Jon't  know  that  it  will  be  quite  wise  to  leave  him  out. 
I  shall  want  to  look  at  that  book  every  now  and  then,  and 
he  might  put  a  little  money  in  the  concern,  besides  getting 
us  some  of  the  chemicals  we're  in  want  of.  We  might 
have  him  in  as  a  sort  of  sleeping  partner — take  his  share 
of  the  profits,  but  not  meddle  with  the  working  of  the  af- 
fair— I'll  go  and  see  what  he  says  to  it." 

Reuben  Flint  was  rather  astonished  when  he  heard 
how  much  John  had  to  say,  but  he  shook  his  head  hope- 
lessly. "  You'll  do  nothing  with  it — nothing.  It's  just 
what  so  many  have  sought  and  failed  to  find  ;  but  you 
may  see  the  book,  and  I  can  tell  you  where  to  get  some 
of  the  articles  you  want ;  indeed,  I  think  I  could  let  you 
have  some  of  them  myself.     Come  this  way." 

The  old  man  led  the  way  to  the  back  of  his  shop,  and 
opening  a  door,  John  followed  him  into  a  small  closet  fit- 
ted up  with  shelves,  on  which  were  ranged  a  number  of 
different  bottles,  while  below  were  small  boxes  or  caskets. 
He  looked  at  them  sorrowfully  and  said,  "  It  was  a  dear 
bargain  when  I  bought  these,  but  I  thought  something 
might  be  made  of  them  when  I  did  so." 

Reuben  Flint  had  been  tempted  some  years  ago  to 
purchase  the  contents  of  a  gentleman's  laboratory,  and  had 
never  yet  found  a  customer  for  it.  He  had  had  at  the 
time  a  fancy  for  dabbling  a  little  in  chemistry  himself,  but 
this  had  now  passed  away ;  he  was  quite  ready  to  sell  the 


A    JOINT-STOCK    CONCERN.  \y 

contents  of  some  of  the  bottles  to  John,  declining,  howevet 
to  give  any  other  assistance. 

"  It'll  just  amuse  you  boys,"  he  said,  "  and  you  ma) 
as  well  be  doing  that  as  breaking  windows  or  tormenting 
cats.  I'll  let  you,  John,  read  the  book  for  nothing,  and 
you  shall  have  any  of  the  ingredients  you  require  for  what 
bhey  cost  me,  only  I  hope  you  will  not  go  blowing  the  old 
Castle  to  pieces,  or  burning  off  your  own  fingers." 

"  Don't  be  afraid — we'll  take  care  of  ourselves,"  said 
John.  Then  he  inspected  the  bottles,  and  was  too  eager 
to  possess  himself  of  some  of  their  contents  to  wait  till  the 
furnace  was  set  up ;  therefore  Reuben  Flint  made  him  up 
a  parcel  of  each,  and  John  found  his  way  back  to  school 
with  it. 

The  next  half-holiday  saw  John  and  his  friends  at  work 
in  the  vault  of  Bessingham  Castle.  They  took  off  their 
jackets,  turned  up  their  shirt-sleeves,  and  worked  like  so 
many  navvies.  If  they  had  only  been  set  such  a  task  as  a 
punishment,  how  they  would  have  rebelled  against  it !  But 
they  toiled  on,  placing  the  stove  more  firmly,  and  building 
up  the  loose  stones  that  had  fallen  down  at  the  entrance, 
so  as  only  to  leave  a  narrow  opening  wide  enough  for  one 
of  them  to  pass  through  at  a  time.  This  took  them  the 
whole  of  the  afternoon,  and  therefore  they  had  to  defer 
commencing  their  experiments  till  the  next  half-holiday, 
when  John  announced  his  intention  of  beginning  in  earnest. 

How  anxiously  the  boys  looked  forward  to  the  coming 
Wednesday !    They  counted  every  hour.     They  were  to  be 


132  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

rich  !  rich  ! !  rich ! ! !  No  amount  of  money  won  by  sheer 
painful  labor,  or  persevering  exertion,  would  have  been 
half  so  delightful  in  anticipation  as  the  good  fortune  which 
was  t:  come  upon  them — little  Miles  put  it  poetically  and 
classically,  as  Jupiter  did — in  a  shower  of  gold.  Theii 
heads  were  fairly  turned,  they  could  think  of  nothing  but 
their  coming  wealth.  As  to  their  lessons,  they  were  mat- 
ters quite  beneath  their  consideration — Teddy  Hooke  put 
it  plainly,  "  What's  the  good  of  a  fellow  cramming  down 
Greek  and  Latin,  when  he  can  get  his  own  living  just  by 
making  a  pot  boil  ? " 

To  which  Grosse  replied,  "That's  the  only  kind  of 
cramming  you  ever  object  to,  Hooke." 

Dr.  Raven  saw  that  there  was  something  amiss,  and  he 
remarked  upon  it  to  Mr.  Vane,  the  second  master.  "  Young 
Ashdell  is  a  clever  fellow,  but  I'm  afraid  he's  at  some  non- 
sense or  other,  which  has  turned  his  own  head  and  those 
of  the  other  boys,  too.  I  hope  they'll  not  be  up  to  mis- 
chief. Couldn't  you  give  a  hint  to  one  or  two  of  the  sixth 
form  to  keep  an  eye  upon  them  out  of  school  hours  ? " 

Mr.  Vane  promised  to  see  what  he  could  do,  and  the 
Doctor  himself  spoke  to  Staples  :  "  I  wish  you'd  look  after 
that  young  Ashdell  in  a  good-tempered  way,  without  let- 
ting him  see  it.  I  like  the  boy,  and  I  really  think  he  might 
be  a  credit  to  the  school  if  those  precious  '  ideas '  of  his 
don't  run  away  with  him.  I  should  be  obliged  to  you,  Sta- 
ples, if  you  would  just  see  if  you  could  keep  him  in  check 
a  little." 


A    JOINT-STOCK    CONCERN.  133 

Staples,  like  Mr.  Vane,  promised  to  do  what  he  could, 
but  John  and  his  friends  went  to  work  so  quietly,  that  the 
slightest  idea  of  what  they  really  were  after,  never  occurred 
to  either  of  them.  John  went  out  quietly  between  hours 
on  the  Monday  and  Tuesday  and  laid  in  a  stock  of  fuel,  car- 
rying it  in  a  bag,  which  he  slung  over  his  shoulder  under 
his  Inverness-cape.  It  was  late  in  the  year  to  be  wearing 
such  a  thing,  but  that  was  John's  affair.  Staples,  who  saw 
him  going  out  with  it,  thought  it  might  be  one  of  his  "ideas" 
that  he  was  likely  to  catch  cold  if  he  did  not  wrap  up  well, 
and  as  John  seemed  as  steady  a  boy  as  any  in  the  school, 
the  absurdity  of  the  notion  only  seemed  the  more  in  keep- 
ing with  his  character. 

John  had  a  great  many  journeys  to  and  from  the  Cas- 
tle, but  he  went  round-about  ways  to  it,  and  sometimes  en- 
tered it  on  one  side,  sometimes  on  the  other,  so  that  Sta- 
ples— who  really  was  anxious  to  please  the  Doctor,  and 
keep  John  out  of  mischief,  if  possible,  remarked  to  a  school- 
iellow  "  that  there  was  nothing  more  peculiar  in  him  than 
that  he  was  rather  fond  of  taking  strolls  with  Teddy  Hookc, 
who  ought  to  act  as  lead  to  his  quicksilver ;  for  if  Ashdell 
has  more  '  ideas '  than  he  knows  what  to  do  with,  the  other 
has  not  one  beyond  getting  a  better  pennyworth  of  cake  or 
apples  than  anybody  else. 

Wednesday  came  at  last,  and,  luckily  for  these  promis- 
ing boys  of  ours  (who  had  already  begun  to  suspect  that 
Staples  and  "  Weathercock" — which  was  their  modification 
of  Mr.  Vane's  name — were  "  spying "  on  them),  Staples 


134  THE   BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

went  home  for  the  day  to  see  an  uncle  just  returned  from 
India,  and  Mr.  Vane  was  laid  up  with  a  sore  throat.  The 
Doctor  gave  a  caution  about  them  just  before  dinner  to  a 
junior  master,  but  they  had  left  ere  he  was  aware  of  it,  and 
were  within  the  Castle  almost  before  he  knew  they  had 
left  the  playground. 

Then  they  set  to  work.  John  had  provided  candles  as 
well  as  coke,  and  they  were  lit  two  at  a  time,  and  stuck  in 
physic  bottles,  which,  as  he  said,  made  capital  candlesticks 
at  a  very  cheap  rate.  They  blocked  the  doorway  pretty 
well  up,  moving  the  stones  in  front  of  it,  that  no  glimmer 
of  light  should  betray  them ;  then  to  carry  out  the  thing 
more  fully,  Grosse  was  set  to  keep  watch  with  his  eye  at 
an  aperture  between  the  stones.  John  had  suggested  that 
he  should  walk  up  and  down  outside,  and  whistle  if  he  saw 
any  one  approaching ;  but  to  this  Grosse  demurred,  "  he 
wanted  to  see  what  was  going  on  as  well  as  the  rest,  and  if 
any  of  the  fellows  saw  him  outside  they  might  smell  a  rat." 

So  John  had  to  be  content  with  stationing  Grosse  on 
his  knees  before  the  stones,  and  then  he  went  busily  to 
work,  setting  Miles  to  light  the  furnace,  and  Rodwell  to  stir 
the  contents  of  the  crucible,  into  which  he  poured  the  differ- 
ent ingredients  with  which  Reuben  Flint  had  supplied  him. 

I  can't  tell  you  what  those  boys  felt  while  it  was  all 
going  on.  They  thought  of  Guy  Fawkes  and  his  barrels 
of  gunpowder  under  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  of  coin- 
ers, and  of  wizards.  They  seemed  themselves  turned  into 
something  strange,  and  supernatural,  and  uncanny— each 


A    JOINT-STOCK   CONCERN.  135 

one  felt  a  little  afraid  even  of  himself,  and  a  little  more 
of  every  other  boy  who  was  there.  John  was  the  master- 
spirit amongst  them  all.  They  yielded  at  once  to  his  as- 
cendency, and  as  the  fire  burned  in  the  stove,  and  threw  a 
dull  lurid  light  on  the  grey  stone  walls,  mouldering  with 
the  damp  of  centuries,  or  on  the  creeping  things  that 
crawled  beneath  their  feet  or  climbed  up  the  walls,  they  felt 
as  if  they  were  taking  part  in  some  great  mystery,  and  that 
John,  the  prime  agent  of  all,  was  little  less  than  a  sorcerer. 

"  It's  beginning  to  melt,"  said  John  as  he  looked  into 
the  pot,  and  even  he,  the  boldest  of  them  all,  was  afraid  to 
speak  above  his  breath. 

"  May  I  come  and  see  ? "  said  Grosse,  from  his  peep-hole. 

"  Keep  where  you  are  ! "  said  John,  sternly  ;  "  You 
shall  see  when  the  right  time  comes.  Yes  !  the  different 
metals  are  amalgamating — the  baser  things  passing  away 
from  sight  before  they  merge  their  existence  in  the  higher." 

John  thought  he  ought  to  talk  fine  under  the  circum- 
stances, and  was  doing  his  best  to  recall  the  style  in  which, 
in  the  different  books  he  had  read,  alchemists  spoke  of 
their  mystery.  Then  he  drew  back  from  the  crucible,  and 
struck  his  forehead  in  a  kind  of  despair. 

"  What's  up  ? "  asked  Rodwell,  as  he  stared. 

"  We've  forgotten  the  one  great  ingredient — the  king 
of  all — the  master,  without  whose  presence  we  shall  never 
be  able  to  compel  his  servants  to  go  on." 

"  I  say,  speak  English,"  said  Teddy  Hooke,  who  sat 
perched  on  a  fragment  of  stone  with  his  hands  in  his  pock- 


136  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   11JEA 

ets.  John  had  told  him  he  would  have  nothing  to  do  dur 
ing  the  process  but  to  look  on  and  take  notes — mental  or 
not — preparatory  to  his  making  a  full  report  of  all  that 
passed.  It  was  with  a  view  to  the  task  thus  assigned  him 
that  Teddy  said,  "  I  can't  put  all  this  down,  you  know.  I 
never  shall  remember  it." 

"  Can't  we  get  him  from  the  chemist's  ? "  asked  Rodwell. 

John  shook  his  head.  "  Not  that  way,  but  we  must 
have  him,  Rodwell.  It's  gold  we  want ! — the  presence  of 
gold  is  indispensable,  and  the  old  alchemists  said  so. 
Sometimes  their  experiments  failed  from  an  insufficiency 
of  the  precious  metal,  but  I  never  knew  of  an  experiment 
being  made  where  it  was  absent  altogether." 

"And  we  haven't  got  a  sovereign  between  the  whole 
kit  of  us,"  said  Grosse. 

"  But  we've  got  more  than  a  sovereign,"  replied  John. 
"  At  least  you  have,  Rodwell.  You  can  supply  our  need. 
You  can  help  us  on  our  way  to  fortune.  There's  that  watch 
of  yours — throw  it  now,  this  instant,  into  the  pot,  which  is 
now  at  boiling-point ! " 

"  Oh !  I  say,  I  don't  see  that,"  cried  Rodwell,  putting 
his  hand  over  his  watch.  It  was  a  large  old-fashioned  one, 
and  had  belonged  to  his  great-grandfather.  "  You've  got 
one  of  your  own — why  don't  you  put  that  in." 

"So  I  would,  but  it's  silver,  and  we  must  have  gold. 
I've  got  half-a-crown  of  my  own  stewing,  but  it  hasn't  be- 
gun to  melt  yet.  We  must  have  gold,  or  we  shall  be  at  a 
standstill. 


A    JOINT-STOCK   CONCERN.  137 

"  You  ain't  going  to  have  my  watch,  I  know,"  said  Rod- 
well,  while  the  others  looked  at  him  as  if  they  were  consid- 
ering the  expediency  of  throwing  him  down,  and  taking 
the  watch  by  main  force.  Teddy  Hooke  began  to  reason 
with  him. 

"  You'll  get  lots  of  tin,  you  know,  to  buy  another  with, 
Rodwell ;  and  that  old  thing  never  keeps  time." 

"  I'm  not  going  to  have  it  melted  down  for  all  that," 
said  Rodwell.  "  I've  put  four-and-sixpence  in  this  affair, 
and  I  think  that's  enough  for  one  fellow's  share." 

John  looked  very  hopelessly  at  the  crucible,  and  then 
at  the  furnace.  "  I'm  afraid  we  shall  make  a  mess  of  it  af- 
ter all,"  he  said,  "and  only  for  the  want  of  a  little  gold !" 
and  then  he  looked  at  Rodwell,  and  so  did  all  the  other 
boys,  as  if  in  keeping  his  watch  he  was  the  enemy  of  the 
common  weal. 

Rodwell  himself  felt  uncomfortable.  "  I  shouldn't 
mind,"  he  said  feebly,  "  only  it's  been  so  long  in  the  family, 
and  if  anything  happens  to  it  I  shall  get  such  a  '  rowing ' 
when  I  go  home." 

"  There  is  one  thing  may  do,"  said  John.  "That  old 
Trojan,  whose  book  I've  been  reading,  speaks  of  a  mineral 
which,  if  more  freely  used  than  gold  may,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, supply  its  place.  I  copied  the  name  of  it  along  with 
the  others,  of  which  I  took  a  memorandum.  Here  it  is 
— '  antimonium  metallum  aureum.'  Now  I  wonder  what 
that  is." 

"  Some  stuff  the  maker  of  the  book  invented,  I  should 


138  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

say,"  said  Teddy  Hooke.  "  Never  heard  of  such  a  thing 
before." 

"  Dog  Latin,  I  should  call  it,"  said  little  Miles. 

"  Well,  whatever  it  is,  it  is  the  right  thing  for  us  to 
have  if  we  can't  get  gold,  and  gold  there  seems  no  getting. 
Now  my  opinion  is,  old  Flint's  got  it,  if  we  can  get  it  out 
of  him.  I  mentioned  it  to  him,  but  he  seemed  to  fight  shy 
of  letting  me  have  it.  But  I'm  not  going  to  be  done  by 
him.  He  is  at  a  sale  to-day  at  old  Squire  Middleton's,  but 
I  think  the  old  lady  will  let  me  have  it.  The  thing  is, 
who's  to  go  for  it.  If  I  leave,  everything's  safe  to  go 
wrong." 

"  The  broth  will  be  in  the  fire,  if  you  ain't  here  to  keep 
the  pot  boiling,"  said  Teddy  Hooke. 

"  Don't  be  vulgar,  Hooke.  Some  one  must  go  and  get 
the  '  antimonium  metallum  aureum,'  and  I  think  we  can 
spare  you  better  than  any  of  the  rest." 

"  All  right,"  said  Teddy,  who  did  not  find  his  seat  a 
very  comfortable  one,  I'll  go,  but  you  must  write  down  the 
name  of  that  thing ;  I  never  can  remember  all  that  stuff, 
you  know." 

John  wrote  it  down  with  a  pencil  on  the  envelope  of  a 
letter  which  he  had  in  his  pocket,  and  Teddy  departed, 
Grosse  looking  out  very  carefully  first  to  see  that  the  coast 
was  clear ;  then  the  stones  were  replaced,  and  they  went 
on  with  their  operations. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

WHAT  TEDDY  FOUND  IN  THE  IRON  CHEST,  AND  WHAT  HE 
BROUGHT  BACK  IN  THE  WOODEN  BOX.  HOW  JOHN'S 
POT    BOILED    OVER. 

'  I  ^EDDY  found  Mrs.  Flint  at  home,  and  sitting  by  the 
■*■  fire,  stirring  broth  again.  She  seemed  always  to  be  by 
the  fire,  and  always  to  be  stirring  broth.  She  looked  drow- 
sily up  as  Teddy  went  in,  and  said  Mr.  Flint  is  not  at 
home ;  you  had  better  call  another  day."  That  was  always 
her  formula  when  any  one  went  in  during  her  husband's 
absence. 

"You'll  do,"  said  Teddy;  "I  dare  say  you  can  let  me 
have  what  I  want,"  and  he  took  out  his  paper,  and  read  the 
three  mystical  words  to  her. 

"  Don't  sell  it  here,"  said  Mrs.  Flint ;  "  you'd  better  try 
the  grocer." 

"  I  daren't  go  to  the  grocer ;  Ashdell  said  I  was  not  to 
let  any  one  but  you  know  what  I  wanted,"  said  Teddy ;  "  I 
say,  just  look  about  and  see  if  you  haven't  got  it.  It  must 
be  here  somewhere.  I'll  stir  the  pot  for  you,  if  you  1'ke, 
while  you  are  looking." 


140  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

Mrs.  Flint  got  up  to  look,  grumbling  as  she  went.  Ted 
dy  stirred  the  contents  of  the  saucepan,  and  presently  Mrs. 
Flint  came  back,  and  said  that  nowhere  could  she  find  a 
bottle  or  box  with  the  queer  words  on  it  that  were  written 
on  the  paper  which  Teddy  had  shown  her. 

"Let  me  look,"  said  Teddy,  and  he  pushed  past  the 
old  lady,  who  grumbled  more  than  ever  at  his  imperti- 
nence, and  went  into  the  closet  where  the  different  chemi- 
cals were  kept.  "  Looks  like  a  doctor's  shop,"  said  Teddy 
"  only  there's  no  bottles  of  lozenges.  I  say,  old  lady,  have 
you  looked  into  that  box  ? "  and  he  went  towards  an  old 
iron  chest  in  the  corner.  "  I  dare  say  now  you've  got  some- 
thing good  stowed  away  there." 

"  Oh,  go  away,  do !  go  away ! "  cried  Mrs.  Flint.  "  What 
business  have  boys  like  you  to  come  speering  and  spying 
about,  and,  oh,  dear !  oh,  dear !  there's  my  stew  boiling 
over.  Such  a  waste  of  good  stuff;  and  all  through  looking 
after  you." 

"  Good  stuff,  indeed ! "  said  Teddy  :  "  I  should  be  very 
sorry  to  have  to  swallow  the  mess  ;  but  Mrs.  Flint  did  not 
hear  this  polite  remark,  as  she  was  now  busy  taking  her 
saucepan  off  the  fire.  Teddy  lifted  up  the  lid  of  the  iron 
chest  and  peeped  curiously  in.  He  was  rather  glad  of  the 
opportunity  of  looking  about  Reuben  Flint's  domain,  as 
the  boys  had  such  wonderful  stories  to  tell  of  the  old  miser 
and  his  ways.  The  first  thing  Teddy  saw  ii  the  chest  was 
an  old  Cashmere  shawl ;  it  had  been  worth  a  great  deal  of 
tno'iey  in  its  time,  but  it  was  faded  and  dingy  now.     He 


WHAT    TEDDY  FOUND.  141 

moved  this,  and  underneath  saw  something  that  made  him 
shrink  back  with  affright.  It  was  a  grinning  skull !  Tedd) 
had  almost  put  his  finger  into  its  mouth  before  he  was 
aware  of  it.  He  drew  his  hand  back  in  a  much  greater 
hurry  than  he  had  put  it  in.  "  Don't  like  meddling  with 
that  customer,"  said  Teddy.  "  Suppose  this  skull  was  to 
haunt  me." 

Still  Teddy  felt  curious,  though  frightened ;  he  should 
like  to  see  what  else  Flint  kept  in  his  iron  chest. 

"  Suppose  I  find  a  pot  of  gold  that  he's  forgotten,"  said 
Teddy.  "  He  never  can  remember  all  the  odds  and  ends 
he's  got  about  the  place." 

He  threw  the  shawl  over  the  skull,  and  went  on  with 
his  investigation.  There  was  a  bundle  of  what  Teddy  took 
for  rags,  but  which,  in  reality,  was  an  old  brocade  dress 
which  Reuben  Flint  had  purchased  with  some  other  arti- 
cles. Tossing  this  over,  Teddy  found  his  finger  caught  by 
something  more  sharp-toothed  than  the  skull,  and  uttered  a 
perfect  shriek  of  pain  as  he  tried  vainly  to  draw  his  hand 
away  from  the  iron  prongs  of  a  rat-trap,  which  had  lain 
perdu  under  the  shawl.  He  pulled  out  hand,  trap  and  all, 
and  went  dancing  about  in  his  agony,  shrieking  wildly,  till 
Mrs.  Flint  came  to  his  assistance. 

She  did  nothing  but  scold  him  at  first,  upon  which  Ted- 
dy forgot  both  his  manners  and  his  patience.  "  Hold  your 
row!"  he  said,  "and  try  and  get  this  thing  off — gently — 
gently — ugh  !  you're  driving  it  further  in.  Whatever  does 
possess  Flint  to  keep  such  a  lot  of  rubbish  in  that  old  thing  ? " 


142  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

"  What  possesses  you  to  go  hunting  in  my  husband's 
places  ? "  asked  Mrs.  Flint,  not  without  reason.  "  Oh  dear ! 
oh  dear !  there's  a  customer  in  the  shop  !  I  do  wish  Mr. 
Flint  would  lock  it  up  and  take  the  key  with  him  when- 
ever he  goes  out.  It's  the  only  way  to  keep  it  clear  of  you 
boys.  It's  too  bad  that  quiet  folks  like  us,  who  never  had 
any  boys  of  our  own,  should  be  plagued  so  by  other  people's." 

Away  she  went  to  the  customer,  and  Teddy  thought  he 
would  search  a  little  deeper  in  the  chest.  "  I'm  persuaded 
the  '  mony  lorum  '  is  there.  It  puts  me  in  mind  of  a  story 
I've  heard  little  Miles  tell  of  how  a  treasure  was  found. 
There's  the  skull  to  frighten  you  away, — I  think  it  was  a 
skeleton  as  he  told  it, — and  the  trap  to  bite  you,  if  you 
will  go  on.  It  was  alive  in  his  tale.  Never  mind,  Mrs. 
Flint,  I  ain't  so  easily  frightened.  I'm  going  to  look  for 
the  '  mony  lorum '.  I  wish  the  thing  had  not  got  such  a 
plaguey  long  name.  If  I  do  find  it,  I  ought  to  have  a 
double  share  of  this  pot's  boiling,  if  only  to  pay  for  the  bite." 

He  went  on  with  his  search,  but  more  carefully,  lest 
there  should  be  another  trap  set  to  snare  him,  and  present- 
ly came  across  a  small  wooden  casket  or  box,  looking  at 
least  a  hundred  years  old,  and  with  a  half-illegible  brass 
inscription  on  the  lid. 

"  Shouldn't  wonder  but  this  is  it,"  said  Teddy.  "  I  wish 
I  could  make  out  the  letters.  I'm  certain  it's  an  A,  and 
there's  M.  I  do  believe  I've  got  the  right  thing.  I  wish  I 
could  open  the  box  and  see  the  color.  I  wonder  if  the  old 
lady  will  let  me  have  it.     I  think  I'll  cut  with  it,  without 


WHAT   TEDDY  FOUND.  I43 

asking  her.  She's  safe  to  make  a  fuss ;  perhaps  won't  let  me 
have  it  at  all;  and  John  can  settle  with  the  old  man  afterwards." 

He  was  so  delighted  with  the  thought  of  having  secured 
the  prize  they  were  in  want  of,  that  he  never  stopped  to 
consider  the  propriety  of  the  matter,  but  hurried  off,  squeez- 
ing the  box  in  the  inside  pocket  of  his  jacket.  Mrs.  Flint 
was  still  engaged  with  the  customer,  a  lady  who,  driving 
through  the  town,  had  been  attracted  by  some  of  the  old 
carvings  in  the  window,  and  alighted  to  ask  their  price. 
Mrs.  Flint  did  not  notice  Teddy  as  he  went  through,  being 
just  then  trying  to  pull  an  old  chair  forward  which  the  lady 
wished  to  have  a  better  view  of.  Teddy  hurried  on,  and 
was  very  soon  in  the  Castle  and  before  the  vault,  where  he 
knocked  three  several  times,  as  had  been  agreed,  at  the 
stone  before  the  opening,  with  a  pebble  he  had  picked  up 
for  that  purpose.  These  knocks  were  given  with  such 
solemnity,  that  if  Teddy  had  been  before  a  robber's  cave  he 
could  not  have  performed  them  with  better  effect. 

The  stones  were  moved  away,  and  those  within  said 
eagerly,  "  Have  you  got  it,  old  fellow  ?  What  a  precious 
long  time  you  have  been  ! " 

"  I've  got  it,"  said  Teddy  ;  "  at  least  I  think  so.  But 
you  don't  know  what  a  hunt  I've  had  for  it.  I  say,  how 
dark  this  place  is !  You'll  never  be  able  to  see  whether 
it's  the  right  stuff  or  not." 

"  Snuff  the  candles,  Rodwell,"  said  John,  which  Rodwell 
did,  with  tis  fingers.  "Now, Teddy,  let's  see  what  you've 
got." 


144  THE    B0Y    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

Teddy  was  in  no  hurry  to  produce  the  box,  but  wanted 
first  of  all  to  impress  his  friends  with  an  idea  of  the  great 
efforts  he  had  made  to  procure  it.  His  description  of  the 
iron  chest,  the  skull,  and  the  trap,  thrilled  them  with 
mingled  delight  and  horror.  They  were  all  of  one  opinion 
that  a  treasure  so  carefully  guarded  was  likely  to  be  the 
"  real  thing,"  as  John  expressed  it,  and  they  were  disposed 
to  think  a  little  more  of  Teddy  Hooke  than  they  had  ever 
done  before. 

John  brought  the  box  to  the  candles.  "  There's  an  A 
on  it — you're  right,  Hooke — and  I  can  make  out  N  and  M. 
Shouldn't  wonder  at  all  but  this  is  the  thing  we  want. 
The  book  says  a  blue-greyish  powder.  If  we  can  open 
the  box,  and  find  it  the  right  color,  we  may  make  sure  that 
it's  the  same.     The  thing  is,  how  to  open  it." 

"  Break  the  lid  open  with  the  poker,"  said  Rod  well, 
taking  up  a  small  piece  of  iron  which  did  duty  for  that 
article.     "  Bring  it  here,  and  let's  have  it  open." 

He  stood  by  the  furnace  with  the  poker  in  his  hand. 
John  hurried  to  look  at  his  melting-pot.  "It's  all  going 
on  finely ;  if  that  is  the  right  thing — and  something  tells 
me,  Teddy,  that  it  is — our  fortunes  are  all  made.  I  say, 
won't  we  give  the  whole  school  a  tuck  out,  and  have  a 
good  flare  up  in  honor  of  it ! " 

Little  Miles  went  on  stirring  the  pot.  John  held  the 
box  with  the  lid  upwards,  so  that  Rodwell  could  bring  the 
poker  down  on  it ;  then  Rodwell  hesitated. 

"  I  say,  after  all,  the  box  is  not  ours,  and  breaking  a 


WHAT    TEDDY   FOUND.  145 

lock  is  a  serious  matter.  We  may  get  into  a  precious 
scrape." 

"I'll  make  it  all  right  with  old  Flint,"  cried  John, 
eagerly.  "  We'll  give  him  a  share  in  the  concern,  if  that's 
all.  We  can't  lose  our  share  now,  you  know,  just  because 
Teddy  did  not  settle  the  price  with  him.  Now  bring  the 
poker  well  down  on  the  middle.  We  shall  spill  a  little  if 
the  box  is  full ;  but  never  mind,  I  dare  say  there  will  be 
enough.  Oh!  I  say,  if  it  should  be  the  right  thing!  It 
takes  my  breath  away  to  think  of  it ! " 

Down  came  the  poker  on  the  very  centre  of  the  box, 
and  whiz !  fiz !  bang !  crash !  every  boy  in  that  vault 
thought  the  Castle  was  coming  down  upon  him.  John 
had  talked  of  having  a  "flare  up,"  and  there  was  one 
indeed !  The  furnace  threw  out  flames  that  reached  to 
the  ceiling,  the  whole  place  was  full  of  foul  air  and  sul- 
phurous smoke,  which  seemed  determined  to  find  vent, 
rend  the  very  stones,  and  burst  out  in  spite  of  those  at  the 
door.  There  was  a  great  cry  from  every  boy  present,  as, 
bruised  and  bleeding,  they  tried  to  make  their  way  out, 
but  fell  senseless  one  on  the  other,  just  at  the  opening 
which  the  explosion  had  made.  John  remained  behind, 
more  seriously  hurt  than  any,  not  having  the  power  even 
to  make  an  effort  to  escape,  while  the  box  that  had  caused 
all  this  mischief  rolled  towards  the  door,  and  was  fortun- 
ately too  far  from  the  furnace  to  do  any  further  mischief. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   DOCTOR    FINDS    HE    HAS    A   TROUBLESOME   PUPIL.    JOHN 
IS  DISGUSTED  WITH  THE  INGRATITUDE  OF  HIS  FRIENDS. 

[~~\R.  RAVEN  looked  round  that  evening  when  the  boys 
■*-^  met  together  at  the  hour  of  study  to  prepare  their 
lessons  for  the  next  day,  and  saw  some  few  absent. 
"Where's  Ashdell?"  he  asked,  but  that  was  more  than 
any  one  could  tell  him.  The  Doctor  felt  uneasy.  "  That 
boy  has  been  up  to  some  mischief,"  was  his  thought ;  "  I 
hope  he  hasn't  any  of  the  others  with  him." 

But  it  soon  became  apparent  that  he  had,  as  Rodwell, 
Grosse,  Miles,  and  Hooke,  failed  to  respond  when  called 
upon.  The  Doctor's  misgivings  returned,  and  he  went  up 
to  Mr.  Vane's  room  to  see  if  he  could  give  him  any  clue 
as  to  the  whereabouts  of  the  absentees. 

All  Mr.  Vane  could  tell  him  was  that  Ashdell  and  the 
others  had  been  rather  fond  of  strolling  towards  the  Castle 
lately,  but  that  that  was  a  favorite  lounge  with  most 
new  boys,  and  he  had  thought  it  nothing  particular  in 
Ashdell  going  there,  nor  in  the  others  accompanying  him. 
It  was  possible  that  they  might  have  strayed  beyond  bounds 


A    TROUBLESOME    PUPIL.  147 

and  lost  their  way,  in  which  case  they  would  be  sure  to 
return  sooner  or  later,  very  much  crestfallen,  and  a  severe 
imposition  would  teach  them  to  keep  within  limits  for  the 
future. 

"That  is  all  I  should  apprehend  myself,"  said  the 
Doctor,  "in  the  case  of  any  boy  but  Ashdell,  but  he  is 
such  an  odd  fellow.  I  have  been  afraid,  ever  since  he 
came  to  the  school,  of  some  outbreak  or  another,  or  rathei 
of  his  very  eccentric  genius  leading  him  into  some  serious 
scrape.  I  don't  believe  now  that  he's  been  up  to  anything 
really  wrong,  but  he's  done  something  foolish,  and  per- 
suaded the  others  to  join  him  in  it.  I  shouldn't  be  sat- 
isfied without  going  round  the  Castle  myself.  I'll  take 
Stebbs  with  me  ;  he  knows  the  whole  place  thoroughly,  and 
if  they  are  there  he'll  find  them. 

Stebbs  was  the  school  porter,  and  had  lived  in  the  town 
from  his  boyhood.  The  Doctor  told  him  to  accompany  him, 
and  bring  a  dark  lantern  with  him.  He  was  afraid  some 
of  the  pupils  had  gone  to  the  Castle,  and  lost  their  way  in 
the  underground  vaults.  The  Doctor's  own  idea  was  that 
John  might  possibly  have  taken  it  into  his  head  that  he 
could  discover  a  treasure  by  digging  for  it ;  he  never 
imagined  that  he  had  dreamed  of  making  one.  He  said 
nothing  to  the  other  masters,  and  slipped  out  quietly  and 
walked  on  towards  the  Castle,  followed  by  Stebbs. 

It  was  a  lovely  night,  clear  and  moonlight.  The  old 
castie  looked  grand  in  the  white  silvery  light,  but  the 
Doctor,  though  a  lover  of  the  picturesque,  was  too  full  of 


148  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

anxiety  to  think  about  that.  On  he  stepped,  looking 
keenly  about  for  the  missing  boys,  and  at  last,  raising  his 
voice,  called  them  by  name.  But  no  answer  came,  and 
the  Doctor  was  thinking  of  ascending  the  steps  that  led  tc 
the  summit  of  the  highest  tower,  in  order  that  he  might 
see  whether  his  pupils  had  mounted  there,  when  Stebbs 
suggested  that  they  should  look  below  first. 

"  There's  a  mort  o'  places  lads  like  they  might  hide  in, 
where  they'd  never  hear  the  sound  o'  voice  if  they  wanted 
tew  answer  it,  Doctor.  Let's  take  them  first,  and  I'll  turn 
my  light  on  full." 

So  he  did,  and  down  the  Doctor  went  to  parts  he  had 
never  been  before,  familiar  as  he  thought  himself  with  the 
Castle's  damp  slippery  steps,  down  which  he  often  thought 
he  should  fall,  and  through  vaults  and  cellars  one  after  the 
other,  where  the  darkness  was  so  dense,  that  the  lantern 
only  threw  a  feeble  light  for  a  yard  or  so  around  and  left 
the  rest  in  gloom. 

"They  could  never  have  come  here,"  he  said.  "I  knew 
there  were  queer  nooks  in  the  old  place  when  I  told  you  to 
bring  your  lantern,  but  nothing  like  this.  No,  I  think  we 
must  look  for  them  elsewhere.     This  is  too  unlikely." 

"  The  more  unlikely  the  better  chance  o'  findin'  them, 
sir,"  said  Stebbs.  "That's  my  experience  o'  boys,  sir. 
If  they're  missin',  just  go  and  look  in  the  last  place  that 
they  had  oughter  be  in,  and  you'll  be  pretty  sure  to  come 
across  them.  They  may  ha'  been  huntin'  for  bogies. 
Foolish  folk  hev  a  mort  o'  stories  about  this  place,  an  th« 


A    TROUBLESOME    PUPIL.  149 

young  gentlemen  may  ha'  thou't  they'd  just  see  if  some  o 
them  wern't  there.  Hark !  was  that  a  groan  dew  you 
think,  sir?" 

The  Doctor  listened,  and  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  it 
was  a  groan.  It  came  from  beneath  them.  Looking 
about  as  well  as  the  insufficient  light  the  lantern  gave  would 
permit,  they  saw,  a  few  steps  to  the  right,  and  below,  a  faint 
glimmer  of  light.  "  There's  somethin'  up,  here,"  said 
Stebbs.     "  Let's  go  down  tew  see." 

Down  the  steps  they  went,  and  came  to  another  large 
vault,  at  the  end  of  which  they  perceived  an  aperture, 
through  which  the  dull  red  light  they  had  noticed  showed 
itself.  They  walked  on  and  again  heard  the  groan  repeat- 
ed, only  more  distinctly,  and  then  a  voice  in  troublous  tones 
as  if  smothered  with  sighs,  but  which  reminded  the  Doc- 
tor of  Teddy  Hooke's  when  his  mouth  was  full  of  pudding, 
say — 

"  You  said  we  should  have  a  flare  up,  Ashdell,  and  I 
think  we've  had  one.  Oh !  I  say,  however  are  we  to  get 
out  of  this  precious  mess  ? " 

"  There  they  are,  sir ! "  whispered  Stebbs  to  his  master, 
"  and  I  should  say  they've  had  some  nice  rigs.  Shouldn't 
wonder  by  their  talk  but  that  they've  blown  half  their  legs 
and  arms  off! " 

The  Doctor  stepped  forward,  and  presently  trod  on 
something  which  close  inspection  showed  him  was  a  boy. 
It  was  Rodwell,  who  moved  cowering  under  the  Doctor's 
foot. 


150  THE  BOY  WITH  AN  IDEA. 

"Is  that  you,  Ashdell  ?  Oh!  I  say,  haven't  we  gone 
and  done  it !  Why  didn't  you  tell  us  you  were  going  to 
blow  us  all  up,  like  so  many  Guy  Fawkeses  ? " 

"  Nice  young  gentleman  that  Master  Ashdell  seems, 
tew  be  sure ! "  said  Stebbs.  "  He'll  kill  half  the  school,  if 
he's  let  tew  have  his  own  way." 

By  the  light  of  the  lantern  the  Doctor  saw  two  other 
boys,  and,  looking  at  them  more  closely,  recognized  Miles 
and  Grosse.  They  showed  signs  of  returning  conscious- 
ness, but  had  evidently  been  seriously  hurt.  The  Doctor, 
however,  thought  there  was  no  cause  for  any  great  alarm 
on  their  account.  He  was  anxious,  however,  to  discover 
the  author  of  the  mischief. 

"  I  hope  Ashdell  hasn't  killed  himself,"  he  said,  gravely; 
"  I  can  see  nothing  of  him." 

"  He  may  have  made  a  thorough  job  of  it  as  far  as  he's 
concerned,  and  blown  himself  tew  bits,"  said  Stebbs  ;  "  but 
I  don't  think  it's  likely  ;  I  expect  there's  a  deal  of  mischief 
yet  waitin'  in  this  world  for  that  young  gentleman  tew 
dew." 

"  Bring  the  light  this  way,  Stebbs,  and  let's  look  here," 
said  the  Doctor,  and  he  stooped  his  stately  height,  and 
made  his  way  through  the  aperture. 

The  small  space  within  was  lighter  than  the  larger  vault 
out  of  which  it  opened,  owing  to  the  fire  in  the  stove,  which 
had  not  yet  gone  out,  and  from  which  the  light  the  Doctor 
and  Stebbs  had  seen  came.  Very  near  the  stove,  crouched 
in  a  heap,  head,  hands,  and  knees  all  together,  looking  the 


A    TROUBLESOME    PUPIL.  151 

very  picture  of  helpless,  hopeless  misery,  sat  John  Ashdell. 
The  Doctor  was  about  to  speak  to  him  when  his  foot  struck 
against  something  on  the  floor,  and  picking  it  up  he  found 
that  it  was  a  small  wooden  box. 

John  raised  his  head  languidly  as  he  did  so,  then  gave 
a  groan. 

"  That's  it — that's  done  it." 

Then  he  relapsed  into  silence,  as  if  speech  were  ai- 
effort  too  great  for  him. 

"  Done  what  ? "  said  the  Doctor,  as  he  turned  the  box 
over.     "  Stebbs,  bring  your  light  here  for  a  moment." 

He  held  the  box  close  to  the  lantern  and  examined  its 
contents,  of  which  there  was  still  a  small  portion  remaining. 
"  Hum,"  he  said,  "  I  suppose  you  mean  this  stuff  has  pretty 
well  blown  you  up.  I  don't  wonder  at  it.  What  business 
have  you  to  go  meddling  with  gunpowder  ? " 

"  Gunpowder  ! "  cried  John,  "  and  that  flat,  Hooke, 
brought  it  for  the  '  antimonium  metallum  aureum.'  Oh  dear  ! 
what  is  the  good  of  trying  to  make  the  fortunes  of  a  set  of 
fellows  like  these  ? " 

"  I  think  the  sooner  you're  all  away  from  this  the  bet- 
ter," said  the  Doctor,  "  or  we  may  have  another  explosion. 
Stebbs,  see  if  you  can  help  me  bring  these  unhappy  boys 
up  the  stairs.  Then  I'll  get  you  to  go  back  to  the  school 
for  assistance  to  carry  them  there." 

"  I  think  I  can  walk,  sir,"  said  John,  and  he  tried,  with 
the  Doctor's  assistance.  "  Oh  dear !  I  feel  so  queer — and 
— and — what's  the  matter  with  my  face  ?  " 


152  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

He  passed  his  hand  over  it  as  he  spoke,  and  observed, 
"  I  don't  believe  I've  a  bit  of  eyebrow  left." 

"  I  dare  say  not,"  said  the  Doctor.  "You  may  feel  very 
thankful  you've  got  your  head  still  on  your  shoulders." 

As  they  passed  out,  Teddy  Hooke  raised  his  head  gen- 
tly.    "  Is  that  you,  Ashdell  ?  Isn't  this  a  precious  go  ? " 

"  Mind  what  you're  about,"  said  Stebbs,  "  it's  the 
Doctor." 

Hooke  began  to  cry. 

"  Oh,  please  sir,  we  were  led  into  it — it  was  none  of 
our  doing." 

John  turned  from  him  with  contempt :  "  Hooke,  you 
don't  deserve  to  have  a  friend.  You  don't  know,  sir,"  he 
added,  addressing  the  Doctor,  "what  I  meant  to  do  for 
that  fellow." 

"  You  shall  tell  me  all  about  it  another  time,"  said  the 
Doctor  ;  "I've  no  doubt  your  intentions  were  excellent, 
but  you  seem  to  have  adopted  rather  an  unfortunate  way 
of  carrying  them  out." 

Miles,  Grosse,  and  Rodwell,  followed  by  Hooke,  all  in 
a  woful  state  of  bewilderment,  not  at  all  sure  where  they 
were,  or  what  had  happened  to  them,  were  supported  up 
and  out  into  the  air ;  there  the  Doctor  remained  with  them 
while  Stebbs  went  to  the  school-house  and  presently  re- 
turned with  Mr.  Raven's  pony-chaise,  in  which  they  were  all 
squeezed  together,  the  Doctor  thinking  the  sooner  they 
were  in  their  beds  the  better.  John  volunteered  to  walk 
home,  which  he  did,  with  the  Doctor's  assistance.     He  had 


A    TROUBLESOME    PUPIL.  153 

very  little  to  say;  all  his  loquacity  seemed  to  have  de- 
serted him ;  he  was  for  the  time  thoroughly  crestfallen  and 
humbled. 

"  I  shouldn't  mind  anything,"  he  said,  in  answer  to  the 
Doctor's  inquiries  about  his  hurts,  "if  it  wasn't  for  the 
ingratitude  of  those  fellows.  They  deserve  to  have  a 
friend  who  nearly  kills  himself  in  trying  to  serve  them  !  " 

"  But,  at  the  same  time,  Ashdell,  you've  nearly  killed 
them,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  which  perhaps  may  have  some- 
thing to  do  with  lessening  their  gratitude." 

John  said  no  more.  He  was  too  tired  and  worn.  He 
was  got  to  bed,  and  medical  assistance  being  sent  for  at 
once,  he  and  his  friends  were  ordered  to  remain  there, 
which  they  did  for  some  days  to  come. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

A    NEW    WAY    OF    ANGLING.       HOW,    IN    TRYING   TO    t  UCfl    * 
DUCK,    JOHN    MADE    A    GOOSE    OF    HIMSELF. 

JOHN  was  very  unhappy  after  this  affair.  He  said  ne 
should  be  ashamed  to  show  his  face  in  the  school  again, 
and  there  really  was  some  reason  for  his  saying  so.  His 
eyebrows  were  burnt,  his  hair  was  singed,  and  he  had  sev- 
eral scars  on  his  face.  The  Doctor  was  very  kind  to  him. 
He  pointed  out  the  folly  of  his  late  proceedings,  demon- 
strated to  his  own  satisfaction,  if  not  to  John's,  the  impos- 
sibility of  making  gold  from  inferior  substances,  told  him 
different  stories  about  the  old  alchemists,  and  dwelt  on  the 
clandestine  nature  of  the  whole  proceeding.  John  was  very 
sorry  he  had  grieved  his  master.  He  was  beginning  to  like 
the  Doctor  very  much,  and  he  felt  a  little  ashamed  of  his 
conduct  to  him.  There  was  no  fear  of  his  trying  to  make 
gold  again ;  the  failure  of  this  experiment  would  be  suffi- 
cient ;  and  for  once  he  imputed  that  failure,  not  to  some 
unfortunate  accident,  but  to  the  thing  itself  being  one  that 
did  not  deserve  to  succeed.  The  conduct  of  Hooke  grieved 
him  very  much;  and  the  others,  when  they  got  better,  Haid 


A    NEW    WAY   OF   ANGLING.  155 

some  very  unpleasant  things  to  him  about  the  money  they 
had  embarked  in  the  "  concern,"  and  the  total  loss  there 
seemed  likely  to  be.  John  promised  to  pay  them  all  back 
as  soon  as  he  could,  and  this  had  some  effect  in  mollifying 
their  feelings  towards  him.  He  said,  however,  that  the  first 
person  to  be  repaid  was  certainly  old  Flint.  "  You  fellows 
went  into  this  with  your  eyes  open,  but  he  was  regularly 
cheated  out  of  his  gunpowder,  and  the  box  has  got  the  lock 
broken." 

The  Doctor,  however,  took  another  view  of  the  matter. 
He  said  that  Hooke,  having  run  away  with  the  box,  was 
bound  to  make  reparation  to  Flint  for  whatever  loss  he  had 
sustained ;  and  Master  Teddy  had  his  pocket-money  stopped 
accordingly,  and  felt  himself,  for  some  time  to  come,  a  very 
ill-used  boy. 

Rodwell  Grosse,  and  little  Miles,  too,  were  shy  of  John 
for  a  while,  but  Hooke  was  the  first  to  forget  what  had 
passed,  or,  rather,  to  appear  to  do  so.  Perhaps  it  was 
partly  due  to  a  large  hamper  which  John  received  from 
home,  and  the  contents  of  which  he  was  quite  ready  to 
share.  Indeed,  he  was  so  good-natured  that  the  better 
disposed  of  his  schoolfellows  found  it  impossible  not  to 
like  him  ;  although,  of  course,  in  a  great  public  school 
like  this,  John  found  his  "ideas"  produce  more  ridicule 
than  they  had  ever  done  before.  The  hamper,  however, 
went  a  long  way  towards  making  matters  pleasant  with 
others  than  Teddy  Hooke,  and  John  receiving  soon  after 
a  very  handsome  tip  from  an  old  friend  of  his  father's, 


i50  THE   BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

who  came  to  see  him,  he  was  able  to  reimburse  his  friends 
for  their  pecuniary  loss  in  the  great  experiment  of  gold- 
making,  and  so,  as  he  said  to  himself,  "  shut  up  theii 
mouths  for  them." 

That  was  all  very  well,  but  he  couldn't  shut  up  every- 
body's mouth,  and  though  the  boys  liked  him  very  much, 
still  they  could  not  refrain  from  asking  him  when  he  was 
going  to  pave  the  streets  with  gold,  or  how  long  it  was 
since  his  pot  left  off  boiling,  or  if  he  was  going  to  set 
up  private  diggings  of  his  own ;  all  these  little  allu- 
sions were  anything  but  pleasant  to  John's  feelings.  He 
had  two  or  three  fights.  John  was  not  a  boy  to  fight  if 
he  could  help  it,  but,  when  he  did,  it  was  in  thorough 
earnest,  and,  after  a  time,  he  was  left  in  some  degree  of 
peace,  which,  however,  could  not  prevent  his  entertaining 
a  rankling  feeling  of  despondency  that  the  new  world,  in 
which  he  had  so  hoped  to  distinguish  himself,  should 
have  thus  disappointed  him. 

After  a  while  Teddy  Hooke  and  he  became  as  good 
friends  as  ever.  John  could  not  exist  without  some  one  to 
talk  to,  and  Teddy,  after  swallowing  such  an  ample  share  of 
the  contents  of  the  hamper  as  he  had  done,  felt  disposed 
to  swallow  almost  anything  else  from  John.  They  went  to 
the  Castle  again.  John  had  given  his  word  of  honor  to 
the  Doctor  that  he  would  not  repeat  his  experiment  in 
gold-making,  but  even  if  he  had  not  promised,  he  would 
have  refrained  from  anything  of  the  kind.  John  never  re- 
peated his  experiments  if  they  were  unsuccessful  ones,  but 


A    NEW    WAY    OF   ANGLING.  157 

always  turned  his  attention  to  something  else,  and  it  was 
not  very  long  before  he  began  to  talk  to  Teddy  about  a 
new  "idea"  that  had  dawned  upon  his  mind. 

This,  like  the  last,  was  not  an  original  one.  I  don't 
know  whether  any  of  you  boys  have  ever  read  Washington 
Irving's  very  charming  book  "  The  Alhambra ; "  but  when 
I  had  the  great  pleasure,  I  was  very  much  struck  by  a 
description  he  gives  of  the  angling  in  the  air  which  some 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  grand  old  Moorish  palace  were 
in  the  habit  of  practising.  Mr.  Vane  lent  this  book  to 
John,  thinking  that  he  certainly  would  get  nothing  out  of 
that ;  but,  of  course,  this  angling  for  birds,  being  the  one 
odd,  peculiar  notion  in  the  volume,  Master  John  seized 
upon  it,  and  was  as  delighted  with  it  as  if  it  had  been  his 
own. 

He  didn't  say  anything  to  Mr.  Vane  about  the  "  idea," 
but  he  did  to  Teddy,  who  thought  it,  on  the  whole,  a  very 
good  one.  "Much  better  than  trapping  the  poor  things," 
said  John,  "worrying  and  torturing  them.  Now,  when 
you  catch  them,  you  can  put  them  out  of  their  misery  at 
once." 

"  But  what  shall  we  do  with  them  when  we  have  put 
them  out  of  it  ?  "   asked  Teddy  ;  "  we  can't  eat  them  all." 

"  I  didn't  think  of  eating  any,"  said  John  ;  "  my  notion 
was  to  form  a  collection  of  stuffed  birds,  a  little  ornitho- 
logical museum ;  old  Flint's  going  to  show  me  how  to 
stuff  them,  and  he  says  if  I  get  a  real  good  kingfisher  01 
a  woodpecker,  I  might  make  something  by  it.     I  shouldn't 


158  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

mind  selling  one  or  two,  for  after  paying  all  you  fellows 
back  what  you  put  into  that  unlucky  affair,  I  am  very 
short  just  now." 

"  Roasted  larks  are  very  nice  !"  observed  Teddy  ;  "so 
are  sparrows  ! " 

"  Well,  you  get  a  hook  and  catch  as  many  as  you 
please,  and  we'll  cook  them  on  the  top  of  the  tower  up 
there ;  that's  where  I  am  going  fishing  from." 

"If  they  see  smoke,  they'll  think  we're  making  gold 
again,"  said  Teddy ;  "  no,  I'll  cook  my  birds  down  on  the 
ground — when  I've  caught  'em." 

John  and  he  set  to  work  to  manufacture  lines  and  look 
for  bait.  They  got  quite  a  tinful  of  fine  lively  worms, 
which  they  thought  more  likely  to  attract  birds  than 
butterflies  or  other  insects.  Whether  the  birds  would 
ever  inquire  how  it  was  that  worms  came  floating  in  the 
air,  they  did  not  trouble  themselves  to  ask,  but  took  it 
for  granted  they  would  be  glad  of  worms,  let  them  find 
them  where  they  might.  The  lines  were  very  strong,  of 
the  best  catgut.  "  They  would  pull  up  a  twenty-pound 
salmon  out  of  the  water,"  John  said,  "  let  alone  a  bird,  that 
wouldn't  weigh  as  many  ounces,  out  of  the  air."  And  the 
next  half-holiday  they  went  to  the  Castle,  crept  up  the 
ruinous  stairs  of  the  tower,  and  set  to  work  to  catch  birds. 

They  were  not  so  lucky  as  Washington  Irving's  ang- 
lers ;  perhaps  English  birds  are  more  cunning  than 
Spanish  ones ;  but  round  and  round  the  old  tower  the 
swallows   flew  and  flitted  in  and  out  of  their  nests,  and 


A    NEW    WAY   OF  ANGLING.  159 

the  sparrows  chirruped  and  chattered,  and  the  wrens  and 
thrushes  sang  their  notes  of  wonderment  at  the  oddity  of 
an  unhappy  worm  dangling  midway  in  the  air ;  but  not 
one  of  them  cared  to  take  the  tempted  morsel.  Teddy 
got  out  of  all  patience.  "  I  think  I'll  try  the  other  side  ; " 
he  said,  "  all  the  birds  that  build  on  this  are  too  shy  and 
frightened  to  be  any  good." 

The  other  side  of  the  tower  looked  down  upon  a  road 
which  led  into  the  town.  It  was  not  much  frequented, 
save  by  carters  and  wagoners,  who  sometimes  drove  their 
vehicles  along  here  to  avoid  the  toll-gate  at  the  other  end 
of  Bessingham.  The  tower  on  this  side  had  one  advantage 
for  our  two  anglers — the  battlements  were  not  nearly  so 
much  broken  away,  consequently  they  would  be  better 
hidden  from  the  birds  below  them.  They  had  selected 
the  side  looking  into  the  Castle  court-yard  at  first  as 
being  the  quietest,  but  John  agreed  with  Teddy  that  it 
would  be  useless  remaining  there  longer. 

They  sat  and  angled  for  some  time  in  vain ;  not  a  bird 
seemed  to  care  for  the  poor  red  wriggling  bait  that  floated 
in  the  air.  At  last  there  came  by  a  cartload  of  ducks, 
gabbling  and  quacking  away,  and  they  were  met  by  a 
wagon  coming  from  the  town,  piled  high  with  the  wet 
straw  and  litter  from  different  stables,  which  was  being 
taken  to  some  farmer's  for  manure. 

"I  wonder  whether  one  of  those  ducks  would  bite," 
thought  Teddy ;  "  what  a  fine  roast  he'd  make  if  he  would," 
and  down  went  his  hook  right  in  the  centre  of  the  cart. 


160  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

The  ducks  were  hungry,  and  perhaps  they  did  noi 
think  it  quite  so  strange  that  a  worm  should  come  down 
into  their  midst  as  did  the  wilder  birds  of  the  air.  Every 
one  of  them  had  eyes  for  the  prize ;  they  quacked  louder 
than  ever,  and  at  last  one  sturdy  drake  succeeded  in  secur- 
ing the  tempting  mouthful,  but  found,  when  he  attempted 
to  swallow  it,  that  he  had  more  than  he  had  bargained  for, 
the  hook  sticking  fast  in  his  throat. 

Away  he  went  up  in  the  air,  and  the  driver  of  the  cart, 
as  he  turned  his  head  to  see  what  this  unusual  commotion 
was  amongst  his  ducks,  stared  at  seeing  one  of  them  flying 
with  flapping  wings  and  outstretched  neck  up  to  the  very 
summit  of  the  tower.  Never  had  duck  flown  in  such  a 
manner  before,  or  to  such  a  height.  If  they  should  all 
follow  this  one's  example,  and  go  after  their  comrade  to 
the  top  of  the  tower ! 

He  was  all  but  up,  all  but  over,  and  Teddy  was  rejoic- 
ing in  his  success,  while  John  was  so  cheered  with  the  re- 
sult of  his  experiment,  that  he  quite  forgot  that  it  was  not 
a  very  honest  one,  and  then  down  went  the  duck !  Teddy 
had  not  drawn  his  line  in  sufficiently,  and  the  bird,  to 
those  below,  seemed  to  have  thought  better  of  matters, 
and  to  be  making  up  his  mind  to  travel  to  the  town  peace- 
ably with  his  companions. 

But  he  could  not  retrrn  to  the  cart,  even  if  he  wished 
it,  or  if  those  above  had  been  disposed  to  let  him  do  so. 
The  horse  had  gone  on  a  few  paces  unchecked  by  the 
driver  in  his  first  astonishment,  and  now,  right  under  the 


A    NEW    WAY  OF   ANGLING.  i6l 

tower  in  the  very  spot  from  which  Master  Drake  had  been 
elevated,  stood  the  wagon  with  its  load  of  manure,  its 
driver  quite  as  much  astonished  at  the  extraordinary  gyra- 
tions of  the  bird  as  his  owner  had  been. 

"  Just  catch  him  for  me,  will  ye,"  shouted  the  latter, 
and  the  wagoner  put  up  his  two  hands  to  seize  the 
drake,  which  again  soared  slowly  but  most  mysteriously  up 
into  the  air.  John  was  pulling  him  in,  now  he  had  taken 
the  rod  and  line  from  Teddy,  and  was  really  showing  con- 
siderable science  by  the  manner  in  which  he  hauled  the 
drake  in.  But  the  wagoner  had  keener  eyes  than  the 
driver  of  the  cart,  and  he  saw  the  rope  projecting  be- 
tween the  battlements  of  the  tower,  and  formed  some 
idea  of  the  manner  in  which  the  bird  had  been  hooked. 

"  I'll  stop  yewre  tricks ! "  he  cried,  and  rising  on  the 
footboard  of  the  wagon,  seized  the  duck.  John  was 
furious  at  the  thought  of  losing  his  bird.  That  he  should 
lose  his  prize  just  in  the  very  moment  of  successful  cap- 
ture !  He  would  have  given,  if  he  had  had  it,  the  price 
of  half-a-dozen  ducks  to  have  saved  that  one.  He  pulled, 
and  the  wagoner  pulled ;  then  John  stooped  forward  in 
order  to  draw  in  the  line  better,  and  the  man  below,  seeing 
him,  tugged  yet  harder,  thinking  to  break  the  line  and  save 
the  duck.  He  succeeded  in  breaking  it,  and  succeeded  in 
doing  something  else,  for  John,  stooping  forward,  lost  his 
balance,  and,  to  Teddy's  horror,  fell  toppling  over. 

"  He'll  break  his  neck  ! "  cried  that  young  gentleman  ; 

and,  Teddy's  first  thought  generally  being  for  himself,  he 
11 


162  THE   BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

added,  "  I  wonder  what  they'll  do  to  me  for  being  with 
him  ? " 

Teddy  sat  down  and  crouched  behind  the  battlements. 

If  those  fellows  below  haven't  seen  me,  perhaps  nothing 

will  come  of  it.     I  think  I'll  keep  quiet  where  I  am  till 

they've  gone.     Then  I'll  get  down  and  look  after  Ashdell. 

But  what  ever  shall  I  do  with  him  if  he's  killed  outright  ? " 

Teddy  was  too  afraid  to  stir  for  full  five  minutes,  and 
when  he  did  get  up  and  peer  over  the  battlements,  not  a 
vestige  could  he  see  of  either  ducks,  drake,  cart,  wagon, 
their  respective  drivers,  or  John.  He  took  comfort  from 
the  disappearance  of  the  latter.  "  I  suppose  he  has  picked 
himself  up  again,  and  will  soon  be  coming  here.  Well, 
don't  think  I  shall  stop  any  longer.  I'll  go  down  and  tell 
him,  as  I  meet  him,  that  I've  had  enough  of  this  fun.  It 
isn't  worth  while  taking  the  chance  of  being  broken  to 
pieces  for  all  the  birds  in  the  world." 

Then  he  went  down  the  steep  broken  stairs,  expecting 
at  every  step  to  meet  John,  but  still  without  doing  so. 
He  looked  about  at  the  bottom  of  the  tower  for  him,  and 
searched  through  the  court-yard ;  then  he  made  up  his 
mind  he  had  gone  home. 

"  Hurt  himself,  I  suppose,  or  perhaps  got  the  duck 
after  all,  and  sneaked  away  with  it.  Mean,  I  call  that ! 
what  I  shouldn't  have  thought  Ashdell  would  have  done. 
When  I  do  see  him,  I'll  let  him  know  what  I  think  of  him." 

And  back  to  the  school  playground  went  Teddy 
Hooke,    full    of   wrath    against   the    boy   he   called    his 


A    NEW    WAY  OF  ANGLING.  163 

friend ;  and  inclined,  like  a  great  many  people  much 
older  and  wiser  than  he  was,  to  judge  every  one  else 
by  himself,  which,  let  me  tell  you,  my  boys,  is  not  always 
the  best  mode  of  coming  to  a  correct  estimate  of  other 
people. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

A  SENSATION  AT  SCHOOL.      A  SCOLDING   FOR  TEDDY  HOOKE, 
AND    ANOTHER    MOONLIGHT    SEARCH    BY   THE    DOCTOR. 

T  T  OWEVER,  John  had  not  gone  back  to  school, 
-*•  *■  either  with  or  without  the  duck,  for  Teddy  saw 
nothing  of  him  when  he  returned  there ;  saw  nothing  of 
him,  either,  when  the  boys  assembled  for  tea,  nor  even 
wnen  they  were  gathered  together  for  prayers.  Then  the 
Doctor  grew  angry,  and  alarmed  as  well.  "  This  will 
never  do,"  he  said  aside  to  Mr.  Vane ;  "  this  one  boy  is 
a  greater  charge  than  the  whole  school ;  I  wish  he  had 
never  set  his  foot  in  it ;  and  yet  I  like  the  lad,  too." 

Then  inquiries  were  made  of  every  one,  whether  or  not 
they  could  tell  anything  of  Ashdell.  Teddy  kept  a  dis- 
creet silence  —  "Got  into  a  row  about  the  ducks  and 
bolted,"  he  thought;  "cut  away  home,  I  suppose;  or  else 
they  have  taken  him  to  jail  for  trying  to  steal  one.  Well, 
I  don't,  think  I'll  say  anything  about  it.  I  can't  do  Ashdell 
any  good,  and  may  do  myself  a  great  deal  of  harm,  so  I'll 
just  keep  quiet." 

But   Master  Teddy  was   not  allowed  to  keep   quiet 


A    SENSATION  AT   SCHOOL.  165 

Most  of  the  boys  were  ready  to  say  that  he  and  Jchn 
had  gone  out  together ;  and  several  knew  they  had  visited 
the  Castle  that  afternoon.  "  That  unlucky  Castle ! " 
groaned  the  Doctor.  "  I  wonder  what  is  the  last  '  idea 
he's  been  trying  to  carry  out  in  the  old  place."  Then  he 
insisted  on  Teddy's  acquainting  him  with  all  the  particu- 
lars of  their  recent  visit  there  ;  where  they  had  been,  and 
what  they  had  been  doing.  It  all  came  out  by  degrees  ; 
only  as  one  of  the  boys  said,  "just  as  slowly  as  treacle 
trickles."     They  had  been  to  the  top  of  the  tower  fishing ! 

"  Fishing ! "  There  was  a  general  outcry  here,  which 
not  even  the  presence  of  the  Doctor  could  restrain. 

"  Fishing  for  birds,"  Teddy  explained.  "Ashdell  had 
'got  an  idea,'"  and  as  soon  as  he  uttered  these  words, 
which  by  this  time  had  become  so  familiar  to  them  all, 
there  was  a  roar  of  laughter,  in  which  the  Doctor  could 
not  help  joining. 

"  Well,  he  caught  one  gull,  at  any  rate,"  said  Stebbs,  in 
a  very  audible  voice  aside,  as  he  looked  at  Teddy,  who 
stood  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  turning  over  and  over 
a  stray  halfpenny  or  two  he  had  found  at  the  bottom  of 
them,  and  looking  helplessly  and  miserably  at  the  Doctor. 

"  Well,  what  was  Ashdell's  '  idea '  ?  "  said  the  latter. 

"  That  we  might  catch  birds  in  the  air,  just  as  we  do 
fishes  in  the  water,"  said  Teddy.  "  He  got  the  notion,  he 
said,  out  of  a  book  which  Mr.  Vane  had  lent  him." 

The  Doctor  looked  at  his  second  master  for  an  ex- 
planation. 


1 66  THE   BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

"  Washington  Irving's  Alhambra ! "  said  the  latter  in 
amazement.  "  To  think  of  his  turning  the  book  to  ac- 
count in  this  manner ! " 

"Well,  go  on,  sir,"  said  the  Doctor,  and  on  Teddy 
went: 

"  Then  the  hook  somehow  got  in  a  duck's  mouth,  that 
was  just  going  by,  and  in  trying  to  pull  it  up,  I  suppose  it 
pulled  Ashdell  down,  for  I  saw  him  go  over  head  foremost, 
with  his  heels  kicking  up  in  the  air." 

There  was  a  great  sensation  here.  This  was  very 
dreadful.  The  Doctor  turned  pale ;  then  said,  angrily, 
"  Why  didn't  you  tell  me  of  this  before,  sir.  I  suppose 
the  poor  boy  is  lying  bruised  and  senseless  at  the  foot  of 
the  tower ;  and  you  have  been  such  an  insensate  little  dolt 
as  not  to  acquaint  me  with  what  had  happened  for  fear  of 
bringing  punishment  on  yourself.  Go  to  your  room,  sir ! 
you're  not  fit  to  associate  with  boys  possessed  of  any 
decent  feeling.  The  rest  of  you  may  remain  up  for 
another  hour,  as  I  have  no  doubt  you  are  all  anxious  to 
hear  what  has  become  of  Ashdell." 

"  He  isn't  at  the  foot  of  the  tower,  sir,"  said  Teddy,  be- 
ginning to  cry.  "  I  stooped  over  and  looked,  as  soon  as 
I'd  got  the  better  of  my  fright,  and  I  could  see  nothing  of 
him  or  the  duck  either  ;  so  I  came  back  to  the  school, 
thinking  he  must  have  gone  somewhere  to  get  it  cooked 
It  was  a  fine  fat  one  ! " 

"  Pick  himself  up  after  such  a  fall ! "  said  the  Doctor,  in 
amazement,  "  and  walk  away  with  a  duck  under  his  arm 


A    SENSATION  AT   SCHOOL.  167 

Why,  the  boy  must  have  ninety  lives  instead  of  nine ! 
However,  I  shall  not  rest  satisfied  with  your  version  of 
the  matter;  but  will  go  myself  at  once,  and  see  if  I  can 
find  Ashdell."  Then  he  called  Stebbs  ;  and  the  porter,  as 
before,  went  out  with  him. 

'  This  be  nice  work,  sir,  on  winter  nights,  turning  out 
after  that  young  gentleman,"  said  Stebbs.  "  It's  tew  be 
hoped,  if  yew're  to  keep  yew're  health,  that  he'll  either 
break  his  neck  up  there,  or  his  friends  will  find  a  different 
place  for  him — a  'sylum  I  should  say,  would  be  about  the 
best." 

But  the  Doctor  was  too  anxious  to  attend  to  Stebbs 
As  before,  he  searched  through  every  corner  of  the  Castle, 
and  then,  not  finding  John,  went  through  the  town,  and 
made  inquiries,  but  could  hear  nothing  of  him ;  and  so  he 
returned  home  very  disheartened,  angry  with  the  boy  who 
had  led  him  such  a  chase,  and  yet,  more  distressed  on  his 
account  than  annoyed  at  his  folly. 

If  Master  Teddy  had  only  told  the  whole  truth,  instead 
of  giving  such  a  garbled  version  of  the  affair,  the  Doctor 
would  have  arrived  at  some  solution  of  the  matter,  which 
might  have  set  his  mind  so  far  at  rest,  that  he  would  have 
seen  how  it  was  possible  for  John  to  fall  from  the  tower, 
and  yet  escape  without  broken  bones,  by  having  alighted, 
as  he  had  done,  on  the  summit  of  the  piled-up  mountain 
of  manure,  which  just  then  was  stationary  beneath  the 
Castle  walls. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

JOHN  HAS  A  LONG  DRIVE,  BUT  NOT  A  PLEASANT  ONE. 
HE  MAKES  HIS  APPEARANCE  IN  A  NEW  CHARACTER 
AT    "THE    THREE    MAGPIES." 

"  WEWVE  got  a  soft  bed,  but  a  rare  mucky  one,"  said 
-*•  the  wagoner,  as  John  sank  down  in  the  very  centre 
of  the  wet  straw,  and  lay  for  a  moment  breathless  and 
frightened  by  the  fall.  For  a  whole  minute  he  was  silent ; 
then  he  tried  to  extricate  himself  from  the  soft  wet  mass 
into  which  he  had  fallen,  and  in  which,  indeed,  he  was 
afraid  of  being  smothered,  and  said,  "  Just  stop,  will  you 
and  help  me  out  of  this  ? " 

"  Now,  now,"  said  the  wagoner,  giving  his  horses  an- 
other cut  with  the  whip,  "yew  got  in  for  yew're  own  divar- 
sion,  and  yew'll  stop  in  for  mine.  I  don't  hold  with  young 
gentlefolks  tryin'  tew  steal  poor  folks'  ducks.  I'm  thinking 
if  yew'd  got  a  schulemaister  he'd  ha'  sumthin'  tew  say  tew  ye." 
"Well,  you  ain't  my  schoolmaster,"  said  John  ;  "and  1 
don't  see  that  it's  any  business  of  yours.  I'll  trouble  you 
to  stop  your  horses  at  once,  and  help  me  get  down.  I 
don't  wan't  to  be  riding  on  the  top  of  this  mess." 


JOHN  HAS   A    LONG    DRIVE.  169 

"  What  for  did  yew  get  into  it  ? "  asked  the  wagoner ; 
"  I  didn't  tell  yew  tew  cum.  But  I'm  thinkin'  yew  won't 
find  it  quite  so  easy  to  get  down.  I've  a  mind  to  give  yew 
a  bit  of  a  ride." 

John  was  furious,  but  it  was  all  of  no  use  ;  the  wagon- 
er did  not  mind  him  in  the  least,  and  as  to  getting  down 
himself  from  the  top  of  that  moving  mountain,  it  was  out 
of  the  question. 

"  I've  a  great  mind  to  punch  your  head,"  he  said  at  last 
to  the  wagoner,  by  way  of  a  conclusive  argument. 

"  I  wouldn't  advise  yew  tew  try,"  said  the  other  :  "just 
keep  a  civil  tongue  in  yewr  head,  or  I'll  lay  yew  down  right 
in  the  very  middle  o'  the  muck,  with  a  rare  lot  ov'  it,  as 
good  as  half-a-dozen  blankets,  on  the  top  o'  ye.  Yew'll, 
maybe,  find  it  warm,  but  I  don't  think  it'll  be  altogether 
nice." 

John  thought  it  best  to  say  nothing  more  after  this — 
the  wagoner  looked  quite  capable  of  executing  his  threat 
— and  on  they  went,  mile  after  mile,  till  at  last  they  stopped 
at  a  small  public-house,  where  the  horses  took  a  draught 
out  of  the  road-side  trough,  and  their  driver  called  for  a 
pint  of  ale. 

The  landlady  brought  it  out  herself;  then  seeing  John, 
she  said,  "  There's  some  one  up  there  chosen  a  queer  place 
for  a  ride." 

"  Aye,  I've  just  got  him  out  wi'  me  tew  give  him  a  les- 
son," said  the  wagoner ;  and  he  told  her  the  manner  in 
which  John  had  come  there. 


170  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

"  'Twere  a  new  way  of  stealing  altogether,  an  so  I'm 
going  tew  steal  him.  O'ny  for  a  bit  tho' ;  I  wouldn't  be 
troubled  with  him  for  long.  I  think  if  he  has  tew  trudge 
back  a  dozen  miles  or  so  tew  his  schule,  it'll  maybe  teach 
him  manners." 

The  landlady  looked  sympathizingly  at  John,  but  she 
had  poultry  of  her  own,  and  thought  people  had  no  busi- 
ness to  find  out  new  ways  of  stealing  ducks  ;  still,  she  said, 
"  I  shude  say  he  didn't  mean  it.  Young  folks  will  be  fool- 
ish.    'Twere  on'y  a  bit  0'  skylarkin'  like." 

"  Let  him  keep  his  larks  away  from  other  people's 
ducks,"  said  the  wagoner ;  and  on  he  drove,  and  the  land- 
'ady  went  back  to  the  inn. 

John,  while  they  had  been  resting,  had  seen  his  opportu- 
nity, and  now  lost  no  time  in  seizing  it.  Over  the  road 
there  hung  the  sign  of  the  inn,  "  The  Three  Magpies," 
rudely  painted  on  a  board,  which  was  supported  by  a  stout 
iron  bracket.  John  felt  sure  that  this  iron  arm  would  sup- 
port his  weight,  and  as  the  wagon  passed  directly  under 
it,  he  swung  himself  on  to  the  sign,  crawled  along,  and 
crept  into  a  small  open  window  just  above.  When  he  had 
alighted  on  the  floor,  he  took  breath — for  it  had  been  rather 
a  dangerous  experiment — and  looked  around  him.  He  was 
in  a  small  loft,  or  lumber  room,  with  a  little  old  furniture 
in  it,  and  some  sacks  piled  in  the  corner. 

"  I'll  get  out  of  this,"  thought  John,  "  as  soon  as  that 
fellow's  out  of  sight.  I  suppose  I  shall  easily  find  my  way 
to  the  stairs." 


JOHN   HAS    A    LONG    DRIVE.  171 

He  went  to  the  door  with  the  intention  of  looking  out, 
but  found  it  was  fastened  on  the  other  side.  "  Never  mind," 
he  thought,  "  there's  plenty  of  time  ;  some  one  will  soon  be 
coming  by,  and  I'll  call  out  and  let  them  know  I'm  here 
I  may  as  well  make  myself  as  comfortable  as  I  can  on  those 
sacks  while  I'm  waiting." 

So  he  did,  and  rather  too  comfortable.  He  was  quite 
tired  out  with  angling  on  the  top  of  the  tower  and  then 
riding  on  the  wagon ;  besides  which  his  fall  made  him  feel 
rather  faint  and  dizzy ;  so  he  lay  down,  pulled  one  of  the 
sacks  over  him,  and  slept  for  some  hours,  at  the  end  of 
which  time  he  awoke,  and  found  himself  rather  chilly,  ow- 
ing to  the  cool  evening  air  coming  in,  and  was  surprised  to 
find  that  the  daylight  had  gone  and  the  moon  and  stars 
were  peeping  in  at  him  through  the  little  window. 

"  Here's  a  pretty  go  ! "  cried  John.  "  It's  past  hours, 
and  I  shall  catch  it  no  end.  What  a  bore  it  is  to  be  bound 
so  by  rules  and  hours !  I  often  wish  I  was  a  gypsy,  or  a 
wild  Indian,  or  a  Hottentot — no ;  I  think  they're  rather  a 
nasty  set.  But  I  do  think  our  civilized  life's  a  great  nui- 
sance. I  wish  I'd  come  into  the  world  before  clocks  were 
made.  I  suppose  I  must  make  a  row  at  this  door,  and  ask 
them  to  let  me  out.  Is  that  somebody  coming  in  ?  No  ! 
They've  gone  further.  Well,  I  can't  stand  this  any  longer. 
Here  goes  to  stir  the  house  up  !  I  wonder  what  they'll  say 
when  they  find  me  here." 

He  kicked,  and  he  hallooed,  and  at  last  succeeded  in 
making  himself  heard.     The  landlady  came  to  the  outside 


172  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

of  the  door,  and  so  did  the  landlord,  as,  too,  did  several  ol 
the  customers  from  the  tap-room,  but  they  were  afraid  to 
go  into  the  room,  and  gathered  together,  wondering  how 
anybody  could  have  got  into  it  when  the  door  was  always 
kept  locked.  As  to  the  window  being  left  open,  that  was 
an  oversight  of  the  landlord,  who  had  gone  into  the  loft 
that  morning,  and,  thinking  it  would  be  better  for  a  little 
ventilation,  had  opened  the  casement,  and  neglected  to 
close  it  again. 

They  gathered  together,  and  whispered  and  wondered. 
John  was  getting  quite  impatient ;  the  later  he  was,  the 
worse  it  would  be  for  him  when  he  returned  to  school ;  so 
he  kicked  once  more  at  the  door,  and  demanded  indig- 
nantly to  be  let  out. 

"  Open  it ! "  cried  the  landlady  to  her  husband  ;  "  open 
it,  Tom ! " 

"  I'd  like  tew  know  first  who  it  is,"  was  the  answer,  "  an 
what  for  he  cum  there." 

"  I  wouldn't  let  him  out  till  I'd  the  constable  to  take 
him,"  said  another ;  "  he  ain't  a  bin  hidin'  ther'  for  noa 
good." 

"  Let's  see  who  it  is,"  cried  the  landlady,  who  was  get- 
ting curious  ;  "  what  are  yew  all  so  frightened  for ;  ain't 
ther'  plenty  of  ye  to  stop  him  ? " 

"  Maybe  he's  got  fire-arms,"  said  one  of  the  customers. 

"  Maybe  he'll  know  better  than  to  use  them  if  he  has," 
said  the  landlady.  "  I'll  let  him  out,  if  no  one  else  will ; " 
and  she  turned  the  key  in  the  lock,  which  her  husband  had 


JOHN  HAS   A   LONG   DRIVE.  173 

put  there,  and  been  afraid  to  do  more  ;  and  then  said— 
"  Now  come  out,  whoever  yew  are,  and  let's  see  what  like 
yew  are." 

Out  John  came,  and  at  the  very  sight  of  him,  there  was 
a  rush  and  a  shriek  and  a  general  flight  down  the  steep, 
narrow  staircase,  every  one  hastening  to  be  first ;  the  land- 
lady herself  screaming  louder,  and  running  faster,  thar 
anybody.     John  was  very  much  puzzled  at  this. 

"  What  a  set  of  ninnies  they  are,"  he  said,  "  to  be  fright- 
ened of  me."  But  as  there  was  no  time  to  be  lost,  he 
walked  down  the  stairs  and  out  of  the  open  door,  resolved 
to  make  the  best  of  his  way  back  to  school. 

He  heard  another  shriek,  in  which  every  one  seemed  to 
be  joining,  as  he  passed  the  tap-room,  and,  looking  in,  saw 
the  landlady  leaning  back  in  an  arm-chair  and  trying  her 
very  best  to  faint,  or  look  as  if  she  did,  while  her  husband 
and  the  different  customers  were  gathered  round  her  in  va- 
rious attitudes  of  surprise  and  alarm. 

"  Precious  set  of  muffs ! "  said  John  ;  "  but  I've  no  time 
to  waste  upon  them.  I  wonder  what  on  earth  all  the  row's 
about." 

If  John  had  only  taken  a  little  more  notice  of  the  sacks 
on  which  he  had  flung  himself,  he  might  have  arrived  at  a 
pretty  fair  guess  at  the  cause  of  the  alarm  into  which  he 
had  thrown  the  frequenters  of  "  The  Three  Magpies."  Its 
landlord  was  part  owner  of  a  small  windmill,  and  it  was  here 
that  the  empty  sacks  were  deposited.  One  or  two  of  them 
had  not  been  emptied  quite  so  thoroughly  as  they  should 


174  THE    BOY    WITH   AN    IDEA. 

have  been,  and  the  contents  had  lodged  on  John's  clothes, 
but  especially  on  his  face,  and  the  moonlight  from  a  small 
window  on  the  staircase  falling  on  the  latter  as  he  opened 
the  door,  had  given  it  a  strange  and  weird  appearance, 
which,  in  conjunction  with  the  singularity  of  any  one  being 
in  the  loft  at  all,  had  thoroughly  frightened  the  country 
folk — a  fright  which  they  were  a  long  time  in  getting  over  ; 
and  to  this  day  they  are  given  to  talk  of  the  ghost  of  "  The 
Three  Magpies." 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

JOHN    MAKES    ACQUAINTANCE   WITH   THE    GYPSIES,    AND    IS 
CHARMED  WITH  THEIR  RECEPTION  OF  HIM. 

JOHN  walked  on  by  the  light  of  the  moon,  thinking,  not 
too  hopefully,  of  the  reception  he  should  meet  with  when 
he  got  back  to  school.  "  The  Doctor  will  be  down  upon 
me,  and  I  shall  have  a  thousand  lines  to  write  out,  besides 
being  kept  in  for  the  next  fortnight.  What  a  nuisance 
school  is !  I  don't  mind  the  lessons,  if  I  could  just  be  al- 
lowed to  do  them  at  my  own  time  and  in  my  own  way,  but 
to  be  wound  up  like  a  clock,  and  set  going  like  a  machine, 
seems  to  me  quite  beneath  the  dignity  of  any  rational  and 
intelligent  being.  Hallo !  I  do  believe  I've  come  wrong.  I 
never  was  in  this  part  of  the  world  before." 

He  found  himself  in  a  field  from  which  the  crop  had 
some  time  since  been  carted,  and  which  now  looked  brown 
and  bare,  owing  to  the  long  dry  summer.  A  broad  path, 
wide  enough  for  a  cart,  ran  on  one  side  of  it,  and  at  the  lower 
side  of  the  field  there  was  the  remains  of  a  common  which 
had  not  yet  been  reclaimed  and  made  into  meadow-land 


176  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

Perhaps  this  was  due  to  the  presence  of  a  gravel  pit,  which 
was  not  yet  exhausted,  and  which,  with  its  brown  sides  slop- 
ing down  into  a  wide  hollow,  overhung  here  and  there  by 
several  misshapen  trees,  looked  picturesque  enough  in  the 
moonlight.  But  the  scene  was  made  more  picturesque  still 
in  John's  eyes  by  the  presence  of  a  small  party  of  gypsies 
who  had  gathered  round  a  fire.  Near  them  were  two  or 
three  tents — that  is  to  say,  blankets  supported  by  poles — 
and  these  looked  white  enough  in  the  moonlight ;  while 
some  brown-skinned,  black-eyed  children,  who  peeped 
from  underneath  or  rolled  under  the  furze  bushes,  struck 
him  as  the  merriest  urchins  he  had  ever  seen,  and  the  smell 
of  the  gypsy  stew,  when  one  of  the  women  lifted  off  the  lid 
and  stirred  the  saucepan,  was  the  most  appetizing  he  had 
ever  inhaled. 

John  quite  forgot,  as  he  drank  it  in  with  delight,  that 
it  was  nearly  eight  hours  since  he  had  dined,  and  that  he 
had  had  no  tea,  but  set  it  all  down  to  the  credit  of  the 
gypsies'  cookery. 

"That's  the  life  for  me,"  he  said,  as  he  gave  another  sniff; 
"  free  and  easy,  no  rules ;  no  regularity,  nothing  to  worry 
yourself  about ;  no  fuss,  no  stuck-up  nonsense,  no  show,  no 
sham;  shouldn't  I  like  it?  I've  got  an  idea!  I  was  born 
to  be  a  gypsy ;  it's  just  the  sort  of  life  for  me ;  and  they're 
such  jolly  fellows,  by  all  I've  heard.  I  suppose  they  do 
steal  from  the  farmers  now  and  then ;  but,  after  all,  per- 
haps that  may  be  only  a  spiteful  story  the  farmers  make  up 
Who's  to  know  it's  true.     I  wonder  now  if  these  have  got 


THE    GYPSIES.  1 77 

their  king  with  them,  or  if  they  could  tell  me  anything  about 
him.  I  should  like  to  see  a  real  gypsy-king.  Dear  me,  if 
I  were  to  take  to  that  life,  perhaps  they'd  make  me  king,  as 
being  better  educated  and  better  informed.  That's  just 
what  I  should  like ;  I'd  have  no  thieving  then,  and  if  we 
found  England  didn't  suit  us,  we'd  go  to  Canada  or  Mex- 
ico, anywhere  where  there  was  plenty  of  corn  and  plenty 
of  game.  I  don't  know,  though,  about  my  mother ;  I'm 
afraid  she  wouldn't  like  the  life,  and  I  shouldn't  like  to 
leave  her  for  more  than  a  year  or  two.  Well,  one  can  see 
a  great  deal  of  the  world  in  a  year  or  two.  I  might  found 
a  new  colony,  start  a  new  empire,  as  Romulus  did,  in  that 
time,  and  then  come  back  and  settle  down  on  my  laurels. 
I  should  have  done  something  to  astonish  those  fellows  at 
the  school  by  that  time,  something  that  would  take  the 
shine  out  of  them,  I'm  thinking,  and  show  them,  after  all, 
I've  got  a  little  more  sense  than  they  give  me  credit 
for."  .. 

By  this  time  he  was  near  the  gypsies,  and  one  of  the 
women  came  up  and  offered  to  tell  him  his  fortune.  John 
declined,  but  intimated  that  he  would  much  rather  pay  a 
shilling  for  a  share  of  their  supper.  He  was  not  only  hun- 
gry, but  tired,  having  come  much  further  out  of  his  way 
than  he  had  imagined.  He  thought  if  he  had  something  to 
eat  he  should  be  all  right.  The  gypsies  made  room  for  him, 
but  as  he  was  about  to  seat  himself  near  their  fire  his  foot 
slipped,  and  he  nearly  fell  to  the  ground. 

"I'm  afraid  I've  sprained  my  ankle,"  he  said,  with  a 


178  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

.ittle  alarm.    "  Here's  a  precious  go !    How  shall  I  ever  get 
on  to-night  ?  " 

"  Had  you  much  further  to  go,  dearey  ? "  asked  one  of 
the  gypsies,  a  wrinkled  old  woman,  with  a  crafty  look  in  her 
eyes. 

"  Yes,  that  I  had,  and  I'm  afraid  I  sha'n't  be  able  to  stir 
another  step,"  he  said.  "  If  I  haven't  sprained  my  ankle, 
I've  given  it  a  twist." 

"  Let  me  look  at  the  foot,  dearey  ? "  said  the  old  wo- 
man, and  she  drew  off  John's  boot  and  sock  and  examined 
the  injured  foot.     "  Tisn't  a  sprain,  dearey,  only  a  twist,  as 
you  say,  but  you'll  not  be  able  to  go  any  further  to-night 
Where  was  it  you  wanted  to  go  ?  " 

"  Oh,  a  long  way  from  here !  "  replied  John.  He  did 
not  feel  disposed  to  tell  them  he  was  going  back  to  school ; 
if  they  thought  he  was  a  schoolboy,  he  imagined  they  would 
not  treat  him  with  so  much  deference  as  they  were  doing 
now.  The  gypsies  noticed  this  reserve,  and  drew  their  own 
conclusions  from  it.  They  imagined  that  instead  of  has- 
tening back  to  school  he  was  hurrying  from  it. 

"  I  suppose  one  couldn't  hire  a  chaise  or  anything  of 
that  sort  ? "  asked  John.  "  Precious  hole  that'll  make  in 
what  little  tin  I've  got  left,  if  I  get  it,"  was  his  thought ; 
"  but  I  suppose  it's  the  best  thing  to  be  done.  If  the  Doc- 
tor sees  me  driving  back  to  the  school,  he'll  know  at  least 
that  I  was  in  earnest  about  getting  there." 

"  The  poor  gypsies  have  neither  horses  nor  carriages," 
said  the  old  woman,  "  and  a  grand  young  gentleman  like 


THE    GYPSIES.  179 

you" — she  had  caught  sight  of  Master  John's  watch-chain  , 
and  the  flour  on  his  clothes,  though  it  puzzled  her,  did  not 
conceal  from  her  sharp  eyes  that  they  were  well  made — 
"would  not  like  to  ride  in  one  of  their  carts  with  only  a 
donkey  to  draw  it.  Besides,  that  would  jolt  and  hurt  the 
poor  foot  so  sadly." 

"  Well,  I  shouldn't  like  to  go  up  to  the  school  in  a  don- 
key-cart," thought  John  ;  "  Stebbs  would  tell,  and  I  never 
should  hear  the  last  of  it  from  those  fellows  then.  But  what 
am  I  to  do  ? "  he  said  aloud,  looking  round  the  field  and 
the  common,  as  if  in  search  of  some  hotel  where  he  might 
rest  for  the  night. 

"What  the  poor  gypsies  can  do,  they  will  do,  dearey, 
said  the  old  woman.     "  Stay  here  with  us,  sleep  in  one  of 
our  tents,  and   to-morrow  the  foot  may  be  well,  and  you 
may  go  on  with  your  journey." 

"  Well,  I  do  call  that  kind,"  thought  John.  "  What  a 
fancy  they've  taken  to  me,  to  be  sure !  So  odd,  too,  just 
as  I  was  thinking  how  I  should  like  to  be  one  of  them. 
I  don't  see  what  else  I  can  do,  and  if  I  do  stop  out  all 
night,  the  Doctor  can't  expect  me  to  hop  all  the  way  to 
school  on  one  leg  ;  and  I  don't  know  how  else  I  should 
get  there,  for  I  can't  put  this  other  one  to  the  ground.' 
Then  he  said  aloud,  "  I  should  like  it  uncommonly,  if 
I'm  not  in  your  way.  Have  you  got  room  for  me  here 
in  one  of  your  tents  ? " 

"  Plenty  and  to  spare,"  said  the  old  dame.  "  Nancie, 
Lizzie ! "    and    she    called    two    children    from    under    a 


180  THE  BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

blanket ;  "go  and  sleep  with  your  sister.  Joey,  keep  still, 
my  boy,  and  you  shall  share  my  bed." 

"  Well,  if  they  were  wild  Arabs  they  couldn't  do  the 
thing  better,"  thought  John.  "  This  is  what  they  call  the 
hospitality  of  the  desert.  I  don't  mind  my  hurt  foot  a  bit. 
I  think  it's  a  regular  piece  of  luck,  giving  it  that  twist. 
They'd  never  have  asked  me  to  spend  the  night  with  them 
else.  Sha'n't  I  have  something  to  tell  those  fellows  when 
I  get  back !  I  don't  believe  there's  one  of  them  the 
gypsies  would  have  treated  in  this  style." 

Supper  was  turned  out  in  a  great  wooden  tub,  and  the 
gypsies  drew  round  to  partake  of  it.  The  plates  and  mugs 
were  of  pewter,  and  the  predominant  flavor  of  the  dish  was 
of  onions.  There  was  a  salt-dish,  but  no  spoon,  and  the 
knives  and  forks  were  not  cleaned  so  well  as  they  might 
have  been.  John  was  very  squeamish  in  such  matters,  and 
found  his  supper  did  not  go  down  with  quite  the  relish  he 
had  anticipated.  One  of  the  children  came  up  to  him,  and 
John,  who,  like  most  good-natured  boys,  was  very  fond  of 
little  ones,  was  disposed  to  be  friendly  with  it,  till  he  saw 
that  its  nose  was  sadly  in  want  of  a  handkerchief,  and  the 
clear  moonlight  showed  that  its  face  had  not  been 
visited  with  soap  and  water  for  a  very  considerable 
period. 

*'  Pity  they  ain't  cleaner,"  thought  John.  "  If  ever  I 
have  any  real  influence  over  them,  I'll  try  and  bring  about 
a  change  in  that  matter ;  but  it's  only  a  trifle  after  all. 
They're  such  good-hearted,  friendly,  hospitable  creatures, 


THE    GYPSIES.  l8i 

that  I  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  myself  for  thinking  so  much 
of  these  little  failings." 

He  got  into  talk  with  them  over  his  supper,  and  began 
"  sounding  them,"  as  he  expressed  it  to  himself,  about 
their  royal  family,  and  the  position  of  the  gypsies  in 
general.  They  were  rather  reserved  in  their  communi- 
cations ;  one  of  the  men,  a  tall,  sturdy  looking  fellow, 
especially  so.  John  took  a  fancy  to  this  man,  on  account 
of  his  looks,  and  hearing  him  complain  a  little  of  the 
scarcity  of  common  land  in  England,  and  the  difficulty  the 
gypsies  had  in  finding  any  place  where  they  could  pitch 
their  tents  undisturbed,  began  talking  to  him  about 
Canada  and  America. 

"There  would  be  plenty  of  room  for  you  there,"  he 
said ;  "  and  the  bisons  and  elks  to  shoot  undisturbed. 
What  a  life  that  would  be,  to  be  sure  !  I  wonder  any  of 
you  gypsies  stop  in  this  pent-up  little  place,  when  there  are 
thousands  of  miles  of  country  for  you  to  roam  over  as 
freely  as  you  please."  Then  he  gave  them  a  glowing 
description  of  Canada  and  its  lakes,  the  backwoods  of 
North  America,  and  the  pampas  and  prairies  of  the 
southern  part  of  the  continent ;  hoping  to  inspire  them 
with  a  desire  to  visit  these  new  countries,  where  they 
might  wander  freely  and  untrammelled,  and  in  imagination 
saw  himself  already  the  sovereign  of  the  gypsies,  leading 
them  to  peaceful  conquest  over  untrodden  plains  and 
forests,  which  as  yet  had  been  known  only  to  the  elk  or  the 
bison. 


Ib2  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

It  was  quite  grand;  it  ought  to  have  warmed  up  the 
gypsy  blood  to  a  furious  longing  to  follow  where  he  was 
so  willing  to  lead  ;  but  it  didn't ;  the  old  woman  only  shook 
her  head,  and  said,  "  There  be  no  neighbors  there,  dearey, 
and  we  can't  get  on  without  them;"  and  the  man,  who 
looked  strong  enough  for  a  modern  Hercules,  and  on 
whom  John  had  relied  as  his  coadjutor,  muttered  some 
thing  about  it  being  "  too  hard  work  by  half." 

John  felt  disappointed,  and  when  the  old  woman  asked 
him  if  he  would  like  to  go  to  bed,  he  assented,  feeling  not 
merely  tired  out  with  his  own  eloquence,  but  very  much 
disappointed  at  the  little  effect  it  had  produced.  "  I  hope," 
he  thought  as  he  followed  her,  "  that  when  she  talks  of 
not  getting  on  without  her  neighbors,  she  doesn't  mean 
that  she  helps  herself  at  their  expense ;  it  sounded  like  it." 

He  didn't  find  the  little  straw-stuffed  mattrass  and 
bolster  on  which  he  slept,  quite  so  comfortable  as  his  bed 
at  the  school,  and  he  was  afraid  of  feeling  chilly  if  he 
undressed,  so  he  lay  down  in  his  clothes  ;  and  there  was  a 
close  stuffy  smell  about  the  blanket  he  pulled  over  him  that 
was  not  pleasant ;  sheets  there  were  none,  and,  altogether, 
his  experience  of  uncivilized  life  as  it  is  to  be  met  with  in 
England,  was  not  a  very  agreeable  one.  Still  he  made  the 
best  of  it,  thinking  "it  was  uncommonly  kind  of  them  to 
take  me  in.  They  wouldn't  have  done  that  now  at  a  farm- 
house, or  any  of  those  cottages  I've  passed.  They're  a 
regular  good  sort,  these  gypsies,  although  perhaps  there's 
one  or  two  things  they're  open  to  improvement  in." 


THE    GYPSIES.  183 

He  slept  soundly,  and  dreamed  that  he  was  in  South 
America,  and  that  a  number  of  Indians,  clothed  in  tiger 
skins,  and  with  feathers  on  their  heads,  were  dancing  round 
him  ;  that  all  the  gypsies  from  England  had  come  over,  and 
were  waiting  on  either  side  of  him  as  his  courtiers,  and  the 
old  woman,  who  had  entertained  him  that  evening,  was  sit- 
ting by  his  side  as  his  queen.  From  this  dream  he  was 
awoke  by  a  voice  which  was  strangely  familiar,  and,  look- 
ing up,  he  saw  the  moon  and  the  stars  shining  right  down 
upon  him,  as  his  blanket  had  been  pulled  away  from  over 
his  head,  and  Mr.  Vane  was  standing  by,  speaking  to  him. 

"  Get  up,  Ashdell,  and  come  back  to  school,"  he  said, 
which  was  rather  a  prosaic  interruption  to  John's  poetical 
dreams. 

He  sat  up  and  rubbed  his  eyes.  "  How  ever  did  you 
find  me,  sir  ? " 

"  This  good  man,"  said  Mr.  Vane,  pointing  to  the  tall 
gypsy,  "  imagined  that  you  had  run  away  from  school — I 
hope  not  correctly,  Ashdell — and,  guessing  that  you  came 
from  Bessinghan,  walked  over,  and  informed  the  Doctor  of 
your  whereabouts.  Was  he  right  in  his  inference  ? " 
asked  Mr.  Vane,  sternly;  "did  you  really  mean  to  crown 
all  your  follies  by  such  an  uncalled-for  action  as  this  ? " 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,  sir, "  said  John,  shortly,  and  Mr.  Vane 
felt  sure  that  he  was  speaking  the  truth.  "  I'd  have  come 
on  at  once,  only  I  hurt  my  foot — as  he  might  have  told 
you,  the  mean  skunk!  if  he'd  had  any  consideration  in 
him." 


1 84  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

"He did  tell  us  that,"  said  Mr.  Vane,  "and  Mrs.  Raven 
has  kindly  lent  me  her  pony  and  chaise,  in  which  to  carry 
you  back.  But  if  you  did  not  intend  to  run  away,  how  came 
you  to  be  so  far  out  of  your  way?" 

John  told  the  whole  story,  which  afforded  Mr.  Vane 
more  amusement  than  he  chose  to  display.  He  made  no 
remarks,  however,  but  assisted  John  into  the  chaise,  and 
when  they  were  settled  in  it,  John  saw  him  slip  something 
into  the  hand  of  the  tall  gypsy. 

"Treacherous  scoundrel!"  said  John  to  himself;  "after 
my  placing  the  trust  in  him  I  did,  to  go  and  betray  me  like 
this !  Now  I  shall  have  the  credit  of  having  run  away, 
without  having  had  the  fun  of  it.  What  a  nice  lot  of  chaff 
I  shall  have  to  stand  to-morrow ! " 

But  John  was  mistaken  there.  When  the  morrow 
came,  he  was  in  no  state  for  "  chaff,"  or  anything  of  a 
similar  nature,  being  confined  to  his  bed  with  a  bad  head- 
ache and  a  violent  cold,  the  consequence  of  his  first  at- 
tempt at  uncivilized  life.  He  was  a  long  time  getting 
well ;  so  long,  that  his  mother  came  to  see  him,  and  as 
she  wished  to  take  him  home,  Dr.  Raven  was  quite  willing 
that  she  should  do  so,  and  at  the  same  time  informed  her 
that,  though  he  liked  John,  whom  he  really  considered  a 
very  clever  boy  indeed,  he  would  rather  not  have  the 
charge  of  him  for  the  future. 

"  He  would  be  better  at  a  private  tutor's,  my  dear 
madam,"  he  said  ;  "  it  is  utterly  impossible  for  any  master 
to  look  after  him,  who  has  the  charge  of  above  a  hundred 


THE    GYPSIES.  1 85 

boys  besides.  I  shall  always  be  pleased  to  see  Ashdell, 
always  glad  to  hear  of  his  welfare,  but  I  can't,  in  justice 
to  my  other  pupils,  accept  the  continued  responsibilit) 
of  his  education." 

So  John  went  home,  and  was  ailing  and  poorly  for  a 
great  part  of  the  summer.  He  was  very  much  vexed  at 
parting  with  the  Doctor,  and  there  were  some  of  the  boys 
whom  he  was  really  sorry  to  leave,  but  after  a  while  his 
spirits  revived,  and  his  "  ideas  "  began  to  flow  again  with 
their  former  vivacity.  Bob  came  to  spend  some  time  in 
Studley,  and,  in  conversation  with  him  and  his  old  school- 
fellows, John  began  to  feel  himself  again,  and  to  speak  of 
the  boys  at  Bessingham  Grammar-School  with  the  con- 
tempt he  was  in  the  habit  of  evincing  for  all  who  presumed 
to  differ  from  him.  It  was  not  very  long  before  he  got 
into  mischief  again,  and  what  this  was  I  must  tell  you  in 
my  next  chapter. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

john's   new   theory   about   animals.       how  he    met 
with  a  monkey  that  seemed  untamable. 

JOHN  seemed  to  think  that  after  all  there  was  a  great 
deal  more  to  be  made  out  of  the  animal  world  than 
people  generally  imagined,  but  his  "  ideas "  now  took 
another  shape,  and  this  new  fancy,  instead  of  angling  for 
birds  or  fattening  calves,  was  training  animals  generally, 
or,  as  he  called  it  himself,  "  elevating  and  humanizing  the 
brute  creation." 

"  I've  an  '  idea,'  "  he  told  Ted  and  Bob  one  day,  "  that 
a  great  deal  might  be  done  that  way  by  any  one  who  knows 
how  to  go  to  work.  But  no  one  does,  there's  the  mischief 
of  it.  We  treat  the  brutes  just  as  if  they  were  brutes 
and  nothing  more.  Give  them  a  bad  name,  and  stick  to 
it.  Once  in  a  way,  people  seem  to  find  out  the  poor  things 
are  capable  of  something  better,  but  they  don't  persevere, 
or  if  they  do,  they  don't  persevere  in  the  right  way.  Some 
day  I'll  see  what  /  can  do  in  that  way,  but  I  hardly  know 
which  animal  to  select  for  the  experiment. 

"  I  wouldn't  try  a  calf  this  time,"  said  Ted. 


JOHN'S   NEW   THEORY.  187 

"  Drop  that,  please,  Harley,"  replied  John,  rather  test- 
ily. "  It  wasn't  a  fair  trial,  thanks  to  that  precious  Martha  ! 
What  business  had  she  to  go  interfering  with  the  creature  ? 
But  this  is  a  question  of  far  more  importance  than  a  mere 
matter  of  food  ;  it's  the  mental  and  intellectual  faculties  of 
animals  to  which  I  intend  to  devote  my  attention  now ; 
but  the  question  is,  what  kind  of  creature  shall  I  begin 
with?" 

"  There  was  a  deal  of  talk  about  the  industrious  fleas 
once,"  said  Bob ;  "  can't  you  catch  one,  and  begin  with 
that,  John  ? " 

"  There's  a  difficulty  about  the  feeding,"  observed  his 
cousin. 

"Just  as  there  was  about  the  calfs,"  remarked  Ted  in 
a  low  voice,  which,  however,  John  affected  not  to  hear,  and 
continued — 

"  Now,  if  you  wouldn't  mind  helping  in  that,  Bob—" 

But  Bob  declined  in  so  very  decided  a  manner  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  the  feeding  of  a  flea,  that  John,  who 
had  no  wish  to  undertake  anything  of  the  kind  himself, 
was  obliged  to  think  of  another  animal  as  the  object  of 
his  new  process  of  development. 

"  I  should  like,"  he  said,  "  to  begin  with  one  of  the 
larger  animals." 

"  A  cow,  this  time,"  suggested  Ted  ;  "  calves  are  diffi- 
cult things  to  rear,  by  all  I've  heard  of  them." 

"  I'll  punch  your  head,  Harley,  if  I've  any  more  of  that 
'chaff!'"  said  John,  looking  at  Ted  as  if  he  fully  meant 


1 88  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

what  he  said,  and  as  Ted,  though  by  no  means  a  coward, 
had  no  wish  to  quarrel  with  John,  he  prudently  abstained 
from  any  further  allusions  to  such  a  very  tender  subject. 

A  few  days  afterwards  Ted  had  a  whole  holiday,  and 
Bob,  who  had  not  yet  returned  home,  agreed  to  go  up  with 
him  to  town  in  order  to  visit  the  Zoological  Gardens,  to 
which  place  he  had  never  yet  been.  Ted,  who  had  lived  in 
London  for  the  first  twelve  years  of  his  life,  had  been 
there  several  times,  but  he  was  very  willing  to  go  again 
and  show  Bob  not  only  "  the  lions,"  but  every  other  nota- 
bility in  the  place.  John  heard  of  the  intended  expedi- 
tion, and  wanted  to  go  too,  and  his  grandmother,  having 
now  quite  recovered,  told  him  if  his  mother  would  let  him 
take  a  day  from  school,  she  would  pay  for  his  railway-fare 
and  admission  to  the  Gardens.  Of  course  John  got  a  hol- 
iday from  his  mother,  who  considered,  as  did  Mrs.  Thorne, 
that  as  he  had  been  so  good  a  boy  during  the  illness  of  the 
latter,  he  deserved  some  reward.  Martha  had  her  own 
opinion  on  the  subject  of  John's  goodness,  which  she  did 
not  think  it  at  all  necessary  to  keep  to  herself.  "  It  was 
just  encouraging  him,"  she  said,  "  in  his  idle  nonsense  ; 
there  was  no  knowing  what  he  would  be  up  to  next.  A 
nice  time  she  had  had  of  it,  turning  dry-nurse  to  a  calf!  and 
the  money  Farmer  Prowse  had  given  for  it  had  nothing 
like  paid  for  the  milk  and  oatmeal  it  had  taken  to  keep  the 
creature ;  and  now,  after  all  this  waste,  Master  John  was  to 
go  up  to  London,  just,  as  she  supposed,  to  get  some  more 
nonsense  in  his  head!" 


JOHN'S    NEW    THEORY.  1 89 

It  really  seemed  like  it.  John  was  full  of  his  new 
"  ideas,"  when  he  went  to  the  Gardens.  If  Ted  and  Bob 
had  not  held  him  back  by  main  force,  he  would  have  got 
under  the  iron  barrier  before  the  larger  animals,  and  en- 
deavored to  make  the  personal  acquaintance  of  a  tiger  or  a 
lioness. 

He  was  furious  at  the  way  they  were  treated.  "  Shut 
up,  poor  wretches  !  in  iron  cages,  just  as  if  they'd  done  any- 
thing they  deserved  to  be  punished  for.  Was  that  the  way 
to  make  them  look  upon  men  as  their  friends?  Why 
couldn't  they  be  treated  with  some  degree  of  confi- 
dence, and  have  a  little  liberty  given  them,  instead  of  be- 
ing shut  up  like  so  many  murderers  ?  " 

"  Just  to  keep  them  from  being  murderers,  I  suppose," 
said  Ted.  "  It's  all  very  fine,  young  fellow,  but  if  you  were 
to  have  your  way  with  these  fellows,  they'd  very  soon  make 
mincemeat  of  us." 

"  That's  just  your  old-world  notions,  Ted.  People  nev- 
er seem  to  think  you  can  do  anything  with  dumb  animals 
but  by  force.  I'd  trust  them,  I  would ;  let  them  see  that 
you  think  well  of  them,  and  see  if  they  don't  deserve  it  be- 
fore long." 

"Well,  they  might,"  said  Ted  ;  I  don't  know,  but  I  should 
be  sorry  to  trust  myself  with  that  tiger  over  there.  Let's 
come  and  look  at  the  monkeys ;  they're  pleasanter  animals 
to  deal  with  than  these  fellows  here." 

Ted  was  really  very  glad  to  get  John  away  from  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  lions  and  tigers,  as  he  was  afraid  that,  in  spite 


190  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

of  Bob  and  himself,  and  even  of  a  keeper  who  was  looking 
sharply  after  Master  John,  he  would  go  too  near  the  dan- 
gerous creatures  in  his  anxiety  to  prove  the  correctness 
of  his  favorite  theory.  Let  the  monkeys  be  as  mischiev- 
ous as  they  might,  at  any  rate  he  could  not  get  into  a  very 
serious  scrape  with  them. 

John  had  a  deal  to  say  about  the  monkeys.  Their  in- 
telligence and  vivacity  pleased  him  greatly.  So  much  might 
be  made  out  of  them,  he  said,  if  people  only  knew  how  to 
do  it.  He  fed  them  with  nuts,  tried  to  teach  them  to  shake 
hands,  and  stopped  looking  at  them  till  Ted  and  Bob  were 
quite  tired  of  being  there.  There  was  one  rather  surly 
monkey  on  whom  he  bestowed  a  great  deal  of  attention, 
and  at  last  his  assiduities  seemed  to  have  a  little  effect  upon 
the  rather  acid  nature  of  this  unpromising-looking  indi- 
vidual. He  condescended  to  take  a  nut  from  John's  hand, 
and  even  allowed  him  at  last  to  rub  his  head,  looking  al- 
most pleased  with  the  delicate  attention.  John  pointed 
this  out  in  triumph  to  his  friends. 

"  Now  you  see  I've  nearly  conquered  him,  and  it's  all 
by  kindness !  He  knows  I  trust  him,  and  he's  proud  of 
being  trusted  ;  if  I  were  to  come  here  once  or  twice  more, 
he'd  get  quite  fond  of  me,  wouldn't  you,  poor  fellow  ?  I  do 
believe  even  now  he'd  let  me  do  almost  anything  I  like 
with  him  ;  just  see — " 

He  stooped  down  quite  close  to  the  cage,  and  attempt- 
ed to  take  hold  of  the  monkey's  tail ;  but  this  was  more 
than  Master   John's    new  protege  would    submit  to.     He 


JOHN'S   NEW   THEORY.  191 

snarled,  showed  his  teeth,  and  in  a  second  had  pulled 
John's  cap  off,  while  with  the  other  claw  he  seized  his  hair, 
as  if  he  would  have  liked  to  pull  that  off  too.  John  roared 
with  all  his  might,  as  I  think  any  boy  would  who  was  in 
such  a  predicament,  but  the  monkey  grinned  and  showed 
his  teeth  more  than  ever.  He  seemed  to  think  it  capital 
fun,  and  so,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  did  Ted,  who,  although  he 
ran  up  to  his  friend  at  once,  and  did  his  very  best  to  extri- 
cate him  from  the  monkey's  claws,  was  laughing  all  the 
time  in  what  John  could  not  help  considering  a  very  un- 
feeling manner.  As  to  Bob,  he  stood  quite  panic-struck 
for  a  time ;  then  he  ran  up  too,  but  Ted  by  this  time  had 
got  John  away  from  the  monkey,  who  rushed  back  to  the 
topmost  perch  of  his  cage  and  sat  there,  chattering  and 
grinning  more  than  ever,  and  showing  the  cap  in  triumph, 
as  well  as  a  tuft  of  hair  he  had  pulled  out  of  John's 
head. 

It  was  quite  exasperating  to  see  the  way  in  which  he 
behaved.  He  nodded  towards  the  boys  as  if  to  show  his 
delight  at  his  prizes,  then,  after  examining  the  hair,  hold- 
ing it  to  his  nose  and  mouth  and  eyes,  as  if  to  ascertain  its 
texture  and  fineness,  he  flung  it  on  the  ground,  and  began 
deliberately  pulling  the  cap  to  pieces,  and  flinging  the 
fragments  where  he  had  done  the  hair. 

"  Look  at  him,  the  villain  !"  cried  John.  "  And  it's  my 
very  best,  too.  Oh,  if  I  could  only  get  hold  of  you,  you 
rascal,  wouldn't  I  teach  you  to  play  such  tricks  as  this ! " 

"Now,  don't,  Ashdell,"  said  Ted;  "  try  kindness  ;  sup 


192  THE  BOY   WITH  AN  IDEA. 

pose  you  reason  a  little  with  him.  Don't  you  think  he'll 
understand  you  ? " 

"  Understand  ?  oh,  he  understands  well  enough,  the 
villain !  He  knows  it's  mischief,  and  that's  why  he  delight3 
in  it." 

A  keeper  came  up,  and  John  pointed  out  the  monkey 
to  him,  but  it  was  impossible,  as  the  keeper  said,  for  him 
to  catch  the  animal  in  a  place  where  it  had  so  much  room 
to  go  leaping  about,  and  if  he  did  catch  him,  where  would 
be  the  use,  the  cap  was  quite  spoiled  by  this  time ;  the 
best  thing  the  young  gentleman  could  do,  would  be  to  go 
home  at  once  for  another,  and  the  next  time  he  came  to 
the  Zoological  Gardens,  keep  further  away  from  the  mon- 
keys. 

John  was  not  disposed  to  follow  this  advice,  neither  did 
his  friends  at  all  wish  that  he  should  do  so  ;  they  had  not 
seen  half  there  was  to  be  seen,  so  they  left  the  monkeys 
and  strolled  about  the  gardens,  John  submitting  to  the  in- 
convenience of  having  no  cap,  with  tolerable  composure. 
He  did  not  make  any  further  experiments  on  the  animals ; 
he  said  it  was  no  use  there,  the  creatures  were  so  ill-trained 
and  so  accustomed  to  be  treated  as  enemies,  that  they 
could  not  understand  any  one's  wishing  to  be  friends  with 
them.  Let  him  only  have  a  fair  chance — get  an  animal 
away  from  either  cage  or  keeper,  and  all  to  himself,  and 
he  would  show  people  what  could  be  done  with  it.  As  it 
was,  he  should  content  himself  on  his  visit  to  the  Zoolog- 
ical, with   only  acquiring    some  knowledge   of  the  "  out- 


JOHN'S   NEW   THEORY.  193 

ward  forms   and  peculiarities   of  the   creatures   collected 
there." 

He  looked  very  dignified  as  he  said  this,  and  very  in- 
dignant, and  as  if  he  had  a  right  to  be  so,  with  the  gover 
nors  of  the  Zoological  Society,  and  every  person  in  their 
employment,  for  not  ordering  things  better. 

After  a  time,  as  he  found  himself  rather  cold,  he  tied 
his  pocket-handkerchief  round  his  head,  which  amused 
people  a  little,  especially  when  they  heard  him  gravely 
laying  down  the  law  as  to  the  proper  treatment  of  every 
animal  he  came  near.  Ted  said  he  put  him  in  mind  of 
one  of  the  judges  with  his  wig  on — indeed,  I  don't  know 
whether  he  did  not  compare  him  to  a  late  Lord  Chancelloi 
he  had  once  seen — and  suggested  that  he  should  mount 
on  one  of  the  garden  seats  and  deliver  a  speech  on  the 
wrongs  and  rights  of  animals.  But  John  did  not  receive 
this  suggestion  very  pleasantly.  Ted  might  laugh  as 
much  as  he  pleased  at  chancellors  and  judges,  but  John 
evidently  thought  it  a  very  different  matter  laughing  at 
him. 

They  left  the  Gardens  in  good  time,  as  they  were  anx- 
ious to  catch  the  5:10  train,  that  being  one  which  an  omni 
bus  always  met  at  the  Shedley  station,  and  took  people 
from  it  to  the  village,  which  was  more  than  two  miles 
distant.  They  were  all  to  ride  home,  and  as  by  this  time 
they  were  very  tired,  they  thought  this  a  very  sensible 
arrangement. 

The  day  had  been  fine,  and,  for  the  season,  warm — rt 
13 


194  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

was  now  the  middle  of  April — but  a  heavy  rain  came  on 
soon  after  they  were  in  the  omnibus,  which  made  the  three 
boys  congratulate  themselves  upon  having  inside  places. 
The  omnibus  only  held  ten,  and  there  were  seven  passen- 
gers besides  themselves,  all  people  who  had  been  to  busi- 
ness in  town  that  day,  and  were  returning  home  for  the 
evening. 

One  of  these  passengers  was  well  known  to  the  boys, 
who  had  all  a  profound  dislike  for  him  ;  so  indeed  had 
most  people  in  Shedley.  It  is  curious  what  a  nack  some 
people  have  of  making  themselves  obnoxious  to  every  one 
with  whom  they  come  in  contact,  and  in  this  not  very  de- 
sirable talent,  Mr.  Gruph  particularly  excelled.  He  was  a 
short,  thin  man,  with  an  unpleasantly  red  face,  which  made 
him  look  as  if  he  was  always  in  a  passion,  as  indeed  was 
apt  to  be  the  case  upon  the  least  provocation,  and  he  had 
a  surly,  snappish  manner  of  speaking,  which  was  not  cal- 
culated to  impress  any  one  in  his  favor.  He  had  grumbled 
when  the  three  boys  came  in,  muttering  something,  evi- 
dently meant  for  them  to  hear,  about  a  parcel  of  young 
monkeys  being  let  loose  without  any  one  to  look  after 
them  ;  and  this  little  allusion  of  course  was  not  very  grati- 
fying to  the  young  gentlemen  for  whom  it  was  meant. 

"  I  wish  he  had  your  young  monkeys  to  deal  with,"  said 
Ted,  not  too  softly  to  John  ;  "  though  I  should  say  that 
must  have  been  an  old  one,  to  judge  by  its  growling." 

Mr.  Gruph  looked  and  felt  uncomfortable.  Did  the 
boy  mean  him  when  he  talked  of  an  old  monkey  ?     And 


JOHN'S   NEW   THEORY.  195 

growling ;  well,  if  he  did  growl,  what  business  had  boys 
like  those  to  take  any  notice  of  it  ? 

Presently  John,  who  never  could  keep  silence  long  to- 
gether, began  to  talk  over  the  events  of  the  day,  and  Ted 
joined  in,  greatly  to  the  annoyance  of  Mr.  Gruph,  who,  if 
he  did  not  exactly  think  the  world  was  made  for  him, 
always  imagined  that  special  portion  of  it  was  wherein 
he  happened  to  be.  Every  one  else  was  still ;  there  was 
two  old  ladies  who  kept  a  school,  a  young  one  who  gave 
music  lessons,  her  little  sister,  and  the  chemist  and  linen- 
draper  of  the  village ;  and  in  the  eyes  of  all  these  people 
Mr.  Gruph,  though  a  very  disagreeable,  was  a  rather  im- 
portant personage,  whom  they  would  not  care  to  annoy  by 
talking,  if  he  chose  to  keep  silence. 

But  the  boys  stood  in  no  such  awe  of  Mr.  Gruph,  and 
they  chatted  away  as  fearlessly  and  merrily  as  though  he 
had  not  been  there,  greatly  to  his  annoyance.  But  they 
had  not  gone  very  far  when  something  occurred  which 
irritated  him  still  more  than  even  their  talk  and  laughter. 

The  omnibus  was  going  slowly  up  a  rather  steep  hill, 
when  a  female  voice  was  heard  from  the  wayside,  and  Mr. 
Gruph,  looking  out,  saw  through  the  rain  a  woman,  with  a 
baby  in  her  arms,  standing  by  the  wayside.  The  omnibus 
lamps  shone  full  on  her  as  she  came  near,  and  the  boys, 
who  were  looking  out  too,  saw  that  she  was  thinly  dressed, 
very  wet  already,  carrying  a  parcel  as  well  as  her  baby,  and 
with  no  umbrella. 

The  omnibus  driver  stopped,  with  the  intention  of  al« 


196  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

lowing  the  woman  to  enter  the  vehicle,  but  Mr.  Gruph, 
who  hated  babies,  also  disliked  everything  that  bore  the 
semblance  of  poverty,  and  this  woman  must  be  poor,  or 
she  would  never  be  out  alone  on  such  a  night  with  hei 
baby. 

"  Smith  !  we  can't  have  that  woman  in  here  !  She's  not 
a  dry  thread  about  her  ! "  he  called  out. 

"  It's  pouring  with  rain,  sir,"  said  Smith,  stooping  down 
from  his  box  to  the  window,  at  which  Mr.  Gruph  sat. 

"  Of  course  it  is,  and  we  can't  have  her  to  make  us  all 
wet  through — giving  every  one  of  us  our  death  of  cold." 

"  She's  got  a  baby,  sir,"  pleaded  Smith,  who  was  a  good- 
natured  man,  and  had  babies  of  his  own. 

"  I  know  she  has,"  said  Mr.  Gruph  ;  "  and  do  you  sup- 
pose, Smith,  your  regular  passengers  are  going  to  be  an- 
noyed by  babies  squalling  in  the  omnibus  ? — besides,  it's 
full,  there's  not  a  seat  to  spare." 

"  I'll  take  my  little  sister  on  my  lap,"  said  the  young 
music-teacher. 

"  I'll  ride  outside,"  said  John  and  Ted  simultaneously. 

"  And  I'll  keep  the  baby  quiet,"  said  Bob  ;  "  babies  are 
always  good  with  me." 

"There's  no  room  outside,  young  gentlemen,"  said 
Smith ;  "  but  if  you  could  manage  to  accommodate  this 
good  lady,  as  it  is  such  a  night — " 

"  I'll  not  have  the  omnibus  overloaded  !  I'll  inform 
against  you,  Smith,  if  you  do ! "  growled  Mr.  Gruph,  in  a 
deeper  tone  than  ever.     "  We're  full !     You're  licensed  to 


JOHN'S   NEW   THEORY.  197 

carry  ten  inside,  and  you're  punishable  by  law  if  you  take 
any  more. 

The  rain  came  pelting  in  at  the  window  which  Mr. 
Gruph  had  opened  to  talk  to  Smith,  and  he  pulled  it  up 
sharply,  telling  Bob,  who  sat  next  to  the  door,  to  close  it. 
The  poor  woman  bent  over  her  baby  as  if  to  shield  it  from 
the  rain,  and  John — whose  heart  was  right  enough,  whatever 
might  be  said  of  his  head — jumped  out,  saying,  "  Take  my 
place,  ma'am,  and  almost  before  the  woman  was  aware, 
Ted  and  Bob  had  pushed  her,  baby,  parcel,  and  all,  into 
John's  vacant  seat.  The  omnibus  went  on,  and  John  ran 
by  its  side.  Mr.  Gruph  got  out  at  his  own  gate,  after  hav- 
ing grumbled  all  the  way  at  the  "  damp  stranger,"  who  had 
been  allowed  to  get  in,  to  the  discomfort  of  a  regular  pas- 
senger like  himself.  Then  the  omnibus  went  on,  but 
stopped  at  "  The  Three  Roads,"  a  small  public-house, 
where  the  woman  and  baby  got  out,  and  went  up  to  a  man 
who  was  standing  under  the  doorway,  as  if  expecting  them. 

Something  dropped  out  of  the  woman's  parcel  as  she 
went  towards  the  inn,  and  John,  who  caught  a  glimpse  of 
it,  picked  it  up  and  ran  after  her  with  it.  She  was  just  in- 
side the  open  doorway  now,  and  her  husband,  as  the  man 
appeared  to  be,  had  taken  the  baby,  and  was  observing 
how  wet  it  was. 

"  Well  it  may  be,  poor  dear !"  replied  its  mother  ;  "  we 
should  have  been  drowned  outright,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  a 
young  gentleman — bless  his  heart ! — who  got  out  and  made 
me  take  his  place.     Why,  if  this  isn't  him.     I  am  so  glad, 


tgS  THE   BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

sir,  to  have  the  chance  of  thanking  you  for  your  kindness. 
It  would  have  killed  my  baby  outright  to  have  been  out  in 
the  rain  all  this  time." 

John  gave  her  the  article  she  had  dropped  from  her 
parcel,  and  she  thanked  him  again,  and  went  into  the  inn, 
while  John  ran  homewards,  feeling  none  the  worse  for  his 
wetting,  but  wishing  with  all  his  heart  that  some  bright 
"  idea  "  would  occur  to  him,  whereby  he  might  punish  Mr. 
Gruph  for  the  inhumanity  he  had  shown  that  night. 

'*  Talk  of  taming  the  brutes,  I  wish  I  could  tame  him— 
but  it  wouldn't  be  with  kindness ! " 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

HOW  JOHN   TRIED  TO   CATCH   A   WEASEL   ASLEEP,  AND   MAR- 
THA   CAUGHT   HIM.       AN    UNPLEASANT    BEDFELLOW. 

A  FORTNIGHT  passed  on,  during  which  John  did  his 
"*■*-  best  to  carry  out  his  new  "  idea  "  as  to  the  proper  treat- 
ment of  animals, — a  fortnight  in  which  Martha's  life  was  a 
misery  to  her,  and  she  went  about  in  daily  fear  of  having 
some  strange  inmate  brought  into  her  kitchen,  and  espe- 
cially recommended  to  her  good  graces.  Of  course  such 
creatures  as  boys  generally  make  pets  of,  would  not  have 
sufficed  for  John  ;  rabbits,  dogs,  and  pigeons,  he  disdained 
as  tame,  commonplace  creatures,  whose  mental  faculties, 
such  as  they  were,  had  been  developed  to  the  utmost.  But 
he  brought  in  a  weasel,  with  the  intention,  as  he  said,  of 
trying  if  there  was  any  truth  in  the  proverb,  "  Catch  a  wea- 
sel asleep,"  and  sat  up  all  night  watching  the  creature, 
with  a  view  to  elucidate  that  fact  in  Natural  History.  But 
whether  the  weasel  went  to  sleep  or  not,  John  is  to  this 
day  in  ignorance,  as  Martha  found  him  the  next  morning 
in  a  very  peaceful  slumber  himself,  with  the  weasel  looking 
as  lively  as  ever,  and  a  candle  nearly  burned  down  to  the 


200  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

socket,  with  a  wick  two  inches  long.  She  put  out  the  can- 
dle— and  put  out  the  weasel,  too !  carrying  the  cage  out- 
side and  opening  the  door,  when  the  creature  very  soon 
made  its  escape.  Then  she  returned  to  John,  woke  him 
up  with  a  good  scolding,  and  told  him  that  for  the  future 
she  would  come  every  night  and  see  that  he  was  in  his 
bed,  before  she  went  to  her  own.  Then  he  brought  home 
a  hedgehog,  which  he  concealed  from  Martha,  for,  as  he 
told  Bob,  "  there  was  no  beating  any  sense  into  her.  She 
would  be  ten  times  more  difficult  to  make  anything  out  of, 
than  any  animal  that  ever  came  out  of  Noah's  Ark  ;  and 
the  worst  of  it  was,  if  they  were  dumb  she  wasn't,  so,  just 
for  peace  and  quietness  sake,  he'd  keep  this  creature  in  his 
own  room,  and  say  nothing  about  it  to  her." 

The  hedgehog  got  on  pretty  well  for  a  day  or  two ; 
John  made  it  a  little  nest  at  the  bottom  of  a  cupboard 
where  he  kept  his  clothes,  and  fed  it  with  bread  and  milk. 
But  one  night  it  walked  out  of  the  cupboard,  as  John  had 
left  the  door  open,  and  strayed  into  Martha's  bedroom. 
One  of  the  legs  of  her  bedstead  had  broken  that  morning, 
and  as  the  village  carpenter  had  not  been  able  to  come 
and  mend  it,  Martha  had  made  her  bed  on  the  ground. 
She  was  in  a  sweet  sleep,  when  the  hedgehog,  who  thought 
perhaps  that  it  would  be  warmer  in  bed  with  her  than  on 
the  cold  ground,  crept  softly  in,  and  nestled  up  to  her  in 
the  most  confiding  manner  possible. 

Martha  twisted  in  her  bed  uneasily ;  something  was 
pricking  her,  and,  without  waking,  she  turned  on  the  other 


CATCHING    A    WEASEL    ASLEEP.  201 

side.  The  hedgehog,  which  had  a  great  notion  of  warmth, 
crept  up  to  her,  and  again  she  was  conscious  of  an  unpleasant 
sensation,  as  if  a  dozen  pins  were  running  into  her  at  once, 
but  this  time  in  her  back.  She  woke  now,  and  was  certain 
that  the  pin  pricks  were  not  imaginary,  she  felt  them  too 
palpably  for  that.  Martha  was  thoroughly  frightened — she 
was  not  a  superstitious  woman,  but  still,  what  could  it  be 
that  was  pricking  her  so  sharply  ?  She  was  certain  nothing 
had  been  in  the  room  when  she  entered  it,  and  she  was 
positive  that  she  had  closed  the  door  before  she  came  to 
bed.  So  she  had,  but  the  hedgehog  was  even  then  in 
her  room,  hiding  behind  a  chair  on  which  Martha  had 
thrown  a  dress,  which  completely  concealed  it. 

"  There  can't  be  pins,"  said  Martha,  "  when  I  made  the 
bed  myself,  and  oh !  good  gracious !  what  else  can  there 
be  ?  It's  something  alive,  I'n  sure  of  that !  I  can  feel  it 
moving  as  well  as  pricking  !  It'll  bite  next !  that  is,  if  it's 
anything  belonging  to  this  world,  but  perhaps  it  isn't, 
maybe  it's  come  for  a  warning.  I've  heard  tell  of  such 
things,  but  oh  dear  !  I'd  sooner  have  seen  a  shroud  in  the 
candle,  or  heard  the  death-watch  a  dozen  times  over,  than 
I'd  have  had  such  a  warning  as  this.  I  wonder  whether  it's 
for  me  or  missis.  Oh !  oh !  there  it  is  again  !  and  I  daren't 
get  out  of  bed  for  a  light.  I  can't  stand  it  any  longer — I'll 
screech  for  missis." 

So  she  did,  with  all  her  lungs.  Mrs.  Ashdell  heard  her, 
as  well  as  John,  who  started  up  in  haste.  "  There's  some- 
thing up  !  thieves,  I  shouldn't  wonder;  I'll  run  and  pit :1s 


202  THE   BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

into  them  as  soon  as  I  get  on  my  trousers.  What  shall  1 
take  ?  My  water-jug,  and  throw  it  at  'em — water  and  all. 
What  a  row  she's  making.  It's  very  clear  they  haven't 
killed  her  yet.     I'm  coming,  Martha,  you  needn't  be  afraid." 

Mrs.  Ashdell  slipped  on  her  dressing-gown,  and  lit  her 
candle,  then  she  went  to  Martha's  room,  followed  by  John, 
carrying  his  water-jug.  Martha  was  sitting  up  in  bed, 
screaming  with  all  her  force,  and  looking  the  very  picture 
of  fright,  though  what  there  was  to  be  frightened  at  neither 
John  nor  his  mother  could  see. 

"  I'm  so  glad  you've  come  ma'am  ;  I  don't  know  what 
it  is,  but  there's  a  something  in  the  room  that  there  hadn't 
ought  to  be.  Oh !  I  feel  it  now,  a  pricking  and  a  prick- 
ing. Master  John,  leave  the  room,  do,  and  let  me  get  up 
and  dress  myself !  " 

"  I  dare  say  it's  only  a  pin,"  said  John,  "  You're  as  full 
of  fancies,  Martha,  as — " 

"  Not  half  so  full  as  some  one  I  could  name.  There  it 
is  again  ;  I  feel  it  now  ;  it's  a  monster,  whatever  it  is  !  " 

"An  overgrown  flea,"  suggested  John,  who  had  not 
yet  forgiven  Martha  the  deception  she  had  practised  on 
him  with  regard  to  the  calf. 

Mrs.  Ashdell  came  up  to  the  bed  and  put  her  hand  in  ; 
then  she  pulled  out  the  hedgehog,  screaming  a  little  as  she 
did  so. 

"  It's  Jack  ! "  cried  John,  running  up  to  his  favorite, 
and  embracing  it,  as  much  a  hedgehog  can  be  embraced. 

Martha's  indignation  knew  no  bounds,  and  even  Mrs. 


CATCHING    A     WEASEL    ASLEEP.  203 

Ashdell  scolded  John,  and  insisted  upon  his  pet  being  dis- 
missed the  next  morning,  so  John  was  reluctantly  obliged 
to  turn  Jack  adrift,  and  seek  for  another  subject  to  ex- 
periment upon. 

While  he  was  deliberating  which  of  the  dumb  creation 
he  should  honor  by  selecting  for  this  purpose,  he  received 
an  invitation  to  spend  a  week  in  London  in  company  with 
Bob,  at  the  home  of  another  uncle  of  both.  Bob  and  he 
had  a  fine  time  of  it.  They  went  up  to  the  Monument  and 
down  to  the  Thames  Tunnel,  visited  Madame  Tussaud's, 
the  Polytechnic,  and  many  other  places  equally  congenial 
to  school-boys,  but  the  best  of  all  in  John's  opinion  was 
the  Museum.  He  would  have  liked  to  visit  the  Zoological 
Gardens  again,  in  spite  of  very  recent  unpleasant  ex- 
periences there  ;  but  Bob  flatly  refused  to  accompany  him, 
and  hinted  that  if  he  asked  any  of  his  other  cousins  to  do 
so,  he  would  tell  his  uncle  "  what  a  mull  he  had  made  of  it 
last  time  ; "  therefore  John  thought  it  best  to  say  nothing 
about  the  Zoological,  and  content  himself  instead  with  vis- 
iting the  Museum. 

It  really  was  not  a  bad  substitute,  as  John  said  "you  could 
look  at  the  creatures  as  long  as  you  pleased,  without  their 
being  able  to  hide  themselves  in  the  further  parts  of  their 
dens,  where  there  was  no  seeing  them." 

"  Or  clawing  off  your  cap,"  Bob  added,  "  and  running 
off  where  there  was  no  getting  it." 

John  ignored  this  remark  altogether,  as  he  was  apt  to 
do  remarks  of  a  similar  nature,  and  went  from  one  animal 


204  THE  BOY  WITH  AN  IDEA. 

to  another,  scrutinizing  its  conformation  as  attentively  as  if 
he  wished  to  learn  how  to  stuff  it  himself.  He  was  espe- 
cially taken  with  a  great  brown  bear.  "  That's  a  creature 
I  should  like  to  have  the  training  of,"  he  observed  to  Bob. 
"  Give  me  a  fair  chance  and  no  interference,  and  I  do 
think  something  might  be  done  with  it." 

"  I'd  rather  you  than  me,"  said  Bob  ;  "  they've  a  nasty 
trick  of  hugging,  I've  heard." 

"  It  depends  on  the  management,"  replied  John ;  "  tackle 
them  the  right  way,  and  they  can  be  brought  to  reason, 
like  anything  else.  I  only  wish  I'd  the  chance,  Bob  ;  I've 
an  'idea'  I  might  do  a  great  deal  with  a  bear." 

Their  visit  to  the  Museum  took  place  on  the  last  day  of 
their  stay  in  London.  They  were  to  leave  by  the  5:10 
train  as  before,  in  order  to  catch  the  last  omnibus  at  Shed- 
ley,  having  each  a  little  luggage  to  carry  home,  besides  a 
new  kite  which  his  aunt  had  given  Bob,  and  a  miniature 
steam-engine  with  which  his  uncle  had  presented  John. 
These  presents  had  given  the  latter  very  great  satisfaction, 
more  to  him  indeed,  than  to  Bob,  who  was  not  altogether 
pleased  when  John  told  him  that  he  had  an  "  idea "  he 
could  do  something  with  that  kite  of  his.  Benjamin 
Franklin  had  learned  a  great  deal  from  a  kite,  but  there 
were  one  or  two  things  he  had  not  quite  found  out  about 
it.  Bob,  who  knew  nothing  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  would 
have  been  very  well  content  to  have  flown  his  kite  in  his 
own  fashion,  which  had  always  done  very  well ;  and  his 
mind  misgave  him  that  if  his  cousin  once  got  hold  of  it 


CATCHING    A    WEASEL    ASLEEP.  205 

the  kite  would  be  fit  for  very  little  afterwards.  As 
to  the  steam-engine,  John  was  sure  that  he  should  learn 
more  about  it  than  either  Watts  or  Stephenson  had  ever 
found  out,  and  was  busy  holding  forth  on  the  discoveries 
yet  to  be  made  in  science,  all  the  while  they  were  in  the 
cab  which  took  them  to  the  terminus.  So  full  was  he  of 
these  new  thoughts,  indeed,  that  he  appeared  quite  tc 
have  forgotten  his  theories  of  developing  the  intellectual 
faculties  of  the  dumb  creation,  and  even  to  have  ceased 
regretting  the  want  of  opportunities  of  cultivating  the 
acquaintance  of  a  bear.  There  is  no  knowing  how  much 
Science  might  have  gained,  and  Natural  History  have 
lost,  had  it  not  been  for  the  singular  chance  which  befell 
John  while  waiting  at  the  terminus  for  the  5:10  train. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

HOW    A    BEAR    FINDS    HIMSELF    IN    BAD    COMPANY,    AND    THB 
VILLAGE    IS    SCARED    OUT    OF    ITS    PROPRIETY. 

TN STEAD  of  taking  their  places  at  once  in  the  train, 
■*■  John  and  Bob  stood  at  the  entrance  to  the  terminus 
watching  the  cabs  drive  up  and  the  passengers  alighting. 
There  were  still  some  minutes  to  spare  before  they 
started,  when  they  saw  a  covered  cart  or  small  van  com- 
ing up,  out  of  which  alighted  the  same  woman  to  whom 
John  had  given  up  his  seat  in  the  omnibus  three  weeks 
before.  The  gas-light  fell  full  on  her  face,  as  she  got  out 
of  the  cart,  but  she  had  no  baby  with  her,  and  looked 
altogether  more  cheerful  and  in  better  trim  than  on  the 
rainy  night  when  John  had  befriended  her.  As  she  stood 
at  the  door  of  the  cart,  she  turned  and  said  to  some  one 
within — 

"  You're  sure  you've  got  him  all  safe  ? " 

"  Safe  ?  yes,  to  be  sure,  and  as  tight  as  a  trivet ;  and,  if 
he  wasn't,  he's  as  mild  as  mother's  milk,  and  might  be 
trusted  with  a  babby,"  said  a  man's  voice  from  the  inside 
of  the  van. 


A    BEAR    IN  BAD    COMPANY.  207 

"  I  wouldn't  like  to  trust  him  with  mine,"  replied  the 
woman,  laughing  as  she  spoke  ;  and  then  she  stepped  into 
the  booking-office,  and  came  back  presently  with  two 
tickets  in  her  hand.  As  she  passed  the  boys,  she  caught 
sight  of  John  and  recognized  him  at  once. 

"  Good-evening,  young  gentlemen  ;  how  strange  that  I 
should  meet  you  again ! "  she  hesitated  a  little,  then,  her 
face  brightening  up,  said — 

"  Perhaps  you'd  like  to  see  him ;  he's  the  finest  we've 
ever  had — he's  in  there," — she  pointed  to  the  van — "and 
we've  got  a  lantern  inside." 

"  What  is  he  ? "  asked  John  eagerly  ;  "a  dog ? " 

"  No,  he's  a  bear ;  my  husband  is  going  to  take  him 
down  by  the  rail  to  Studleigh.  There's  to  be  a  fair  there 
to-morrow ;  we've  got  a  wild-beast  show — the  van's  there 
to-day.  I  went  down  to  settle  about  it  that  rainy  night, 
and  see  about  lodgings.  I'm  coming  down  to-morrow,  and 
my  husband's  going  down  with  the  bear  to-night.  He  only 
came  up  to  the  London  Docks  to-day,  and  the  show  would 
be  nothing  without  him.  He's  the  tamest  creature  that 
ever  was,  and  such  a  big  one  ! " 

"  Let  me  see  him  !  Let  me  see  him  ! "  cried  John,  in  a 
high  state  of  excitement.  "  It's  a  bear,  Bob ;  the  very 
thing  I've  been  wishing  for ;  and  tame  already.  I  wonder 
how  they've  done  it." 

He  was  in  the  van  while  he  spoke,  and  the  woman  who  stood 
at  the  door  said,  "  It's  the  young  gentleman,  George,  as  was 
so  kind  to  me  that  rainy  night.     You'll  let  him  see  Buffer  ?" 


208  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

"  Yes,  and  welcome,  as  long  as  he  pleases,"  replied  the 
man,  "  only  I  think  it's  time  Buffer  and  I  was  a  going ; — 
there's  the  bell  ringing.  Sorry  to  part  good  company,  sir, 
but  I  must  take  Buffer  in  and  give  him  a  snug  place  in  the 
horse-box.  I  must  travel  with  him,  they  tell  me,  to  make 
sure  he's  all  right ;  but,  law !  they  needn't  fear,  Buffer's  as 
quiet  as  a  lamb." 

Buffer's  master  had  got  out  while  he  was  speaking,  and 
then  helped  Buffer  himself  out  of  the  van.  Bob  shrank 
back  trembling,  behind  the  woman,  who  went  up  to  the 
bear  and  patted  his  shaggy  hide  as  familiarly  as  she  migh* 
have  done  a  Newfoundland  dog.  Buffer  was  an  enormous 
creature,  and  of  a  deep,  blackish  brown.  For  a  bear,  he 
had  a  pleasant  expression,  but  both  his  hind  and  fore  legs 
were  secured  by  stout  ropes,  which,  however,  left  him  suf- 
ficient liberty  to  walk  erect,  and  to  make  some  use  of  his 
fore  paws  if  so  disposed.  Two  of  the  railway  porters  came 
up  to  escort  him  to  his  carriage,  and  his  master  led  hirr 
carefully  by  a  rope  while  his  mistress  walked  behind. 
Altogether  Buffer  had  quite  a  guard  of  honor,  which 
was  increased  by  John,  who  ran  up  to  the  man  called 
George,  and  said  eagerly — 

"  Let  me  go  with  him,  do  !  I  do  want  to  see  some  more 
of  a  bear,  I  wouldn't  lose  such  a  chance  for  anything." 

"  Let  him  go,  George,"  pleaded  the  woman.  "  Buffer's 
as  quiet  as  a  Christian,  and  wouldn't  hurt  anybody." 

"  Oh !  I'm  not  a  bit  afraid  of  his  hurting  me,"  cried 
John.     "  I  know  how  to  manage  him  too  well  for  that 


A    BEAR    IN  BAD    COMPANY.  209 

He  seems  pretty  tame,  but  if  he  wasn't,  I'd  soon  make 
him  so." 

"  Well,  it's  more  than  many  a  youngster  would  do,  to 
choose  a  bear  for  a  travelling  companion,"  said  the  man ; 
"  but  he  is  quiet,  and  you've  been  very  kind  to  my  missus, 
so  come  along  with  us.  I'll  take  care  he  doesn't  do  you 
any  harm." 

"  Oh  !  I  can  take  care  of  myself,"  replied  John.  "He 
wouldn't  hurt  me.  Dumb  creatures  never  do  hurt  those 
that  know  how  to  manage  them." 

They  were  in  the  horse-box  by  this  time ;  John  looked 
around  for  Bob,  and  saw  him  standing  on  the  platform 
quite  afraid  to  follow  them,  but  evidently  very  much  disin- 
clined to  travel  by  himself. 

"  Jump  in,  Bob,"  cried  John  ;  "  the  train  will  be  off  in  a 
minute  ;  get  in ;  never  mind  the  porters,  they'll  only  think 
you're  another  keeper." 

"  Are  you  going,  sir  ?  take  your  place,"  said  one  of  the 
porters ;  and  Bob,  hardly  knowing  what  he  was  about, 
sprang  into  the  horse-box  just  as  the  train  was  about  to  start. 

He  kept  as  far  as  he  could  from  the  bear,  however,  and 
presently  looked  fearfully  up  at  its  keeper,  saying  "  Is  he 
fond  of  hugging." 

"  Not  particularly,"  replied  George,  otherwise  Mr. 
Sims ;  "  and  if  he  does,  it's  all  love  and  affection.  He's 
the  quietest  creature  going." 

"  Will  he  bite  ? "  asked  Bob,  keeping  as  far  as  he  could 
from  the  "  quiet  creature." 
14 


210  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

"  Not  a  bit,  unless  it's  his  dinner  ;  besides,  he's  muz- 
zled." 

"  There  you  are,"  said  John  loftily  ;  "  you  muzzle  the 
poor  fellow,  and  tie  him  hand  and  foot,  and  call  that  tam- 
ing him  !  Taming  him  !  why,  you  don't  know  how  to  do 
it.  Now  if  that  bear  was  mine,  I  should  go  to  work  in  a 
very  different  manner,  and  I'd  have  him  as  gentle  as  a 
lamb  in  no  time — fit  to  travel  first-class  along  with  the 
other  passengers,  instead  of  being  shut  up  in  a  horse-box 
like  this  by  himself,  poor  fellow ! " 

"  And  how  would  you  go  to  work,  young  gentleman  ? n 
asked  Mr.  Sims,  a  little  curiously. 

"Treat  him  with  confidence,  to  be  sure.  Take  the 
muzzle  off  his  mouth,  to  begin  with." 

"  I'll  jump  off  the  train  if  you  do ! "  shrieked  Bob, 
looking  aghast  with  horror. 

"  Don't  frighten  yourself,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Sims ;  "  the 
muzzle  is  not  off  yet." 

"  And  I'd  cut  those  cords.  I  should  like  that  bear  to 
feel  that  I  trusted  in  him.  I'd  treat  him  like  a  gentleman  ; 
that's  my  idea,  and  then  see  if  he  wouldn't  behave  like 
one,"  said  John,  warming  up  with  his  subject.  "  Oh !  if 
you'd  only  let  me  have  that  bear  to  do  as  I  liked  with,  you'd 
see  what  would  come  of  it." 

"  I  expect  I  should,"  replied  Mr.  Sims.  "  No,  no, 
young  gentleman,  we'll  let  well  alone,  if  you  please.  Buf- 
fer's not  a  bad  fellow,  but  he  wants  a  little  looking  after." 

John  went  up  to  Buffer,  stroked  his  paws  and  his  head, 


A    BEAR    IN  BAD    COMPANY.  21 1 

and  Buffer  appeared  gratified  by  these  delicate  attentions. 
Mr.  Sims  pulled  out  a  short  pipe  and  smoked  thoughtfully 
for  a  few  seconds ;  then,  taking  it  from  his  mouth,  ob- 
served— 

"  I'm  afraid  I  shall  have  a  bother  about  getting  Buffer 
to  the  van  at  Studleigh.  What  do  you  think,  now,  sir, 
they'd  charge  for  a  cart  to  take  him  over  there  ? " 

"  What  do  you  want  a  cart  for  ?  "  asked  John ;  "  isn't 
there  the  omnibus  ? " 

"  They  wouldn't  let  him  ride  there,"  said  Mr.  Sims,  "  or 
else  it  would  come  a  deal  cheaper  to  take  him  over  to 
Studleigh  that  way." 

"  Who'll  hinder  him  ? "  asked  John  ;  "  I  wouldn't  ask 
leave,  but  take  him  in  just  the  same  as  any  other  pas- 
senger ;  and  I  know  he'll  behave  a  great  deal  better  than 
somebody  he's  likely  to  meet  with  in  the  omnibus,  and 
that's  old  Gruph,  that  row'd  so  because  your  wife  wanted 
to  get  in  with  her  baby  the  other  night  when  it  rained  so." 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Gruph  is  likely  to  be  in  the  omnibus,  is  he  ? " 
said  Mr.  Sims  ;  "  then  it  strikes  me  that  anyhow  there'll  be 
one  bear  going  by  it,  whether  mine  does  or  not." 

"There  just  will,"  said  Bob;  and  then  John  and  he 
proceeded  to  narrate  several  very  interesting  anecdotes, 
not  calculated  to  display  Mr.  Gruph's  character  in  a  very 
favorable  light.     Mr.  Sims  listened  attentively. 

"  He's  a  nice  man — very  ! "  he  observed,  when  they 
had  finished.  "Upon  my  word,  I  think  my  Buffer  is 
much  too  good  to  travel  in  his  company.     If  it  was  only 


212  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

him  in  the  omnibus,  I  shouldn't  mind  chancing  it — if  Buf- 
fer did  give  him  a  fright  it  wouldn't  be  more  than  he 
deserved.  But,  you  see,  the  other  passengers  mightn't 
like  it." 

"There's  never  many  of  them  by  this  train.  Old 
Fripp's  going  for  a  wonder.  I  don't  know  what's  made 
Gruph  and  him  so  late.  They  generally  come  by  the  5:10, 
but  I'm  sure  Buffer  will  behave  himself  like  a  gentleman, 
if  they  only  let  him  alone." 

"  But,  you  see,  there's  the  getting  into  the  omnibus," 
said  Mr.  Sims.  "  People  may  cry  out  if  they  see  a  bear 
walking  into  it." 

"  But  they  won't  see  him,"  cried  John ;  "  couldn't  we  rig 
him  out  a  bit  ? — throw  a  cloak  over  him,  or  put  on  one  of 
your  jackets.  You've  got  your  box  here  ;  isn't  there  any- 
thing we  could  fit  him  out  with  ? " 

Mr.  Sims  seemed  to  think  there  might  be.  It  occurred 
to  him  as  very  probable,  that  he  might  get  his  bear  safely 
conveyed  in  the  omnibus,  which  would  cost  him  much  less 
than  if  he  hired  a  cart,  and  if  Buffer  did  frighten  Mr.  Gruph, 
there  would  be  no  great  harm  done.  Accordingly  he 
opened  his  box,  and  took  out  an  old  jacket  and  a  wide-awake. 
He  put  the  former  on  Buffer,  untying  the  cord  which  se- 
cured his  paws  for  the  purpose,  much  to  Bob's  alarm,  and 
then  securing  it  again.  There  was  a  difficulty  about  the 
wide-awake.  Nature  did  not  appear  to  have  intended  Buf- 
fer's head  for  a  hat,  and  the  wide-awake  wouldn't  keep  on, 
till  John  suggested  tying  it  down  with  a   handkerchief. 


A    BEAU    IN  BAD    COMPANY.  213 

which  would  also  assist  in  concealing  the  very  peculiar 
shape  of  Buffer's  face.  There  was  a  difficulty  about  his 
legs ;  Mr.  Sims  had  a  spare  pair  of  trousers,  but  he  doubted 
their  fitting  Buffer,  neither  did  he  altogether  fancy  the  task 
of  enduing  him  with  them.  John  would  gladly  have  done 
so,  but  Mr.  Sims  refused  to  allow  him,  but  at  last  the  diffi- 
culty was  solved  by  Buffer's  being  judiciously  draped  in  an 
old  horse-cloth,  which  Mr.  Sims  had  brought  with  him,  and 
which,  flung  round  him  something  like  a  Spanish  cloak, 
caused  Buffer  to  assume  a  very  imposing  and  almost  mar- 
tial appearance.  There  was  no  light  in  the  horse-box,  but 
the  moon  shone  clear  and  full,  so  that  they  could  perform 
Buffer's  toilet  with  every  facility,  and  Bob  looked  on  half- 
frightened,  but  still  a  little  amused  at  the  bear's  metamor- 
phosis, and  thinking  he  should  be  very  well  pleased  to  see 
him  hugging  Mr.  Gruph,  if  only  he  were  quite  sure  that  he 
wouldn't  afterwards  hug  him. 

They  had  only  just  finished  Buffer's  toilet  as  the  train 
stopped.  Bob  got  out  first,  and  kept  at  a  safe  distance  from 
him,  while  John  assisted  him  out  with  the  utmost  polite- 
ness. Mr.  Sims  kept  by  his  protege's  side,  and  John  and 
he  escorted  him  very  carefully  down  the  railway  stairs. 
Bob  ran  on  first,  in  fact  he  was  hesitating  whether  he 
should  not  run  all  the  way,  and  leave  John  in  the  exclusive 
possession  of  Buffer's  society.  He  did  not  at  all  fancy  rid- 
ing in  the  omnibus  with  him,  but  still  there  would  be  Mr. 
Sims  as  a  protection,  and  it  was  just  possible  that  Buffer 
might  turn  some  of  his  attention  to  Mr.  Gruph ;  it  struck 


214  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

Bol)  that  Mr.  Sims  would  not  be  at  all  displeased  if  he  did 
So,  on  the  whole,  he  resolved  to  risk  the  ride  with  Buffer, 
in  the  hope  that  Mr.  Gruph  might  make  that  gentleman's 
acquaintance  before  the  journey  was  over. 

There  were  very  few  passengers  by  the  omnibus  that 
night.  Mr.  Fripp  and  Mr.  Gruph  had  already  taken  their 
seats  in  it  when  Buffer  made  his  entry  there.  He  was  a 
well-behaved  bear,  and  so  made  the  entry  in  a  more  satis- 
factory manner  than  might  have  been  expected.  John,  who 
had  got  in  first,  helped  him  to  follow,  and  sat  down  by  the 
side  of  his  new  friend.  Bob  came  next,  and  got  as  far  off 
as  possible,  taking  his  place  by  the  side  of  Mr.  Fripp.  A 
bear  must  be  an  audacious  one  indeed,  Bob  thought,  who 
would  take  liberties  with  him.  Mr.  Sims  was  about  to  enter 
next,  when  he  remembered  that  he  had  left  his  box  behind, 
and  ran  off  to  secure  it.  The  train  had  started  when  he 
reached  the  platform,  but  his  trunk  was  there,  and  taking  it 
up  he  came  slowly  down,  for  it  was  heavy,  and  found  the 
omnibus  had  started  off  without  him.  There  was  nothing 
for  it  but  to  leave  the  trunk  behind  for  the  present,  and 
walk  on  without  it. 

Bob  gave  a  faint  cry  of  alarm  when  he  found  the  omni- 
bus going  on  without  Mr.  Sims,  when  Mr.  Gruph  uttered 
one  of  the  little  speeches  that  made  him  so  popular  in  » 
Studleigh,  to  the  effect  that  boys  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to 
ride  in  public  vehicles  till  they  could  behave  themselves. 
Mr.  Fripp  blandly  asked  if  Bob  had  hurt  himself,  to  which 
Bob  gave  a  faint  negative,  but  added  that  they  had  left 


A    BEAR    IN  BAD    COMPANY.  215 

some  one  behind,  and  he  was  almost  afraid  to  travel  with- 
out him. 

"  Now,  then  ! "  cried  John,  in  a  warning  voice,  and  as  he 
accidentally  gave  Buffer  a  slight  poke  as  he  spoke,  thai 
worthy  emitted  a  faint  growl,  which  made  Bob  tremble. 

"  He'll  set  him  on  to  me  if  I  don't  mind,"  thought  that 
an  nappy  boy.  "  Oh,  dear !  oh,  dear !  if  the  omnibus  would 
only  stop,  I'd  get  out  and  run  all  the  way ! " 

Mr.  Fripp  again  repeated  his  inquiries,  and  Bob  informed 
him  that  it  was  the  friend  of  the  gentleman  opposite  who 
had  been  left  behind,  and  he  thought  it  was  very  likely  he 
would  miss  him. 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  said  John  stoutly  ;  "  hasn't  he  got  me 
to  see  to  him  ?  Do  you  think  I  can't  take  good  care  of 
him  ? " 

"  Is  your  friend  an  invalid,  then  ? "  asked  Mr.  Fripp. 
"  A  cold  night  for  travelling,  sir,  if  you're  in  delicate 
health." 

Buffer  only  replied  to  Mr.  Fripp's  polite  inquiries  by  an- 
other growl ;  not  that  he  was  angry  with  that  gentleman  for 
making  them,  but  John  was  employed  about  him  just  now 
in  a  manner  that  rather  disturbed  his  equanimity.  He 
scarcely  liked  being  meddled  with  by  strange  hands,  and 
did  not  appreciate  the  kind  offices  John's  were  perform- 
ing in  cutting  the  bonds  with  which  Mr.  Sims  had  so  care- 
fully secured  him. 

For  John  had  lost  no  time  in  carrying  out  his  theory  of 
treating  Buffer  with  trust  and  confidence.     He  had  asked 


216  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

Mr.  Sims  repeatedly  during  the  operation  of  dressing  that 
personage,  to  allow  him  to  leave  his  fore  paws  at  liberty — 
"  hands  "  John  called  them,  with  a  delicate  regard  to  Buffer's 
feelings  ;  but  Mr.  Sims  had  met  him  with  the  excuse,  "  Safe 
bind,  safe  find  ; "  and  much  other  wisdom  of  the  same  kind  ; 
so  now  John  made  the  most  of  his  opportunity,  and  set 
Buffer's  limbs  at  liberty,  greatly  to  Bob's  horror,  who  could 
just  perceive  enough  of  John's  movements  to  guess  what 
he  was  about. 

"  If  he  isn't  letting  him  loose ! "  said  Bob  to  himself  f 
"  he'll  undo  his  muzzle  next ;  here's  a  precious  go  !  I  won- 
der which  of  us  he'll  take  to  first.  I  can't  get  out,  for  I 
should  have  to  pass  him  first,  and  he'll  make  a  grab  at  me 
as  sure  as  fun !  I'd  squeeze  through  one  of  the  windows, 
but  the  omnibus  is  going  so  fast  I  daren't !  If  he'd  be  con- 
tent with  old  Gruph,  it  wouldn't  so  much  matter,  but  he's 
sure  to  tackle  me,  just  because  I'm  the  nearest.  Oh,  dear ! 
oh,  dear  !  if  I  only  get  out  of  this  mess,  catch  me  ever  go- 
ing out  with  John  again." 

Mr.  Fripp  again  addressed  Buffer, — whom,  from  the 
peculiar  utterances  he  had  made,  he  took  for  an  invalid 
with  a  bad  cold, — and  remarked  that  he  had  come  to  a  very 
healthy  neighborhood.  Buffer  emitted  another  growl ;  he 
didn't  exactly  understand  what  John  was  about,  and  besides, 
the  jolting  of  the  omnibus  was  not  agreeable.  John  would 
have  freed  him  from  the  muzzle,  but  that  was  too  delicate 
an  operation  to  be  performed  without  a  better  light  than 
the  moon — which  every  now  and  then  was  obscured    b) 


A    BEAR    IN  BAD    COMPANY.  217 

clouds — could  give,  but  he  felt  quite  happy  now  in  the 
thought  that  he  had  been  able  to  restore  Buffer  to  part,  at 
least,  of  the  liberty  of  which  he  had  been  so  unjustly  de- 
prived, and  patted  him  on  the  shoulder  in  the  most  friendly 
manner  possible.  John  was  intensely  happy.  Here  was 
the  very  opportunity  he  had  been  longing  for.  A  real  live 
bear  to  fraternize  with,  to  improve,  develop,  and  civilize ! 
What  a  happy  chance  it  was  that  Mr.  Sims  had  left  his 
trunk  behind,  and  thus  left  him  free  to  make  the  best  of 
Buffer  ! 

The  omnibus  came  to  a  bad  bit  of  road,  and  jolted  un- 
mercifully. Buffer,  who  from  the  first  had  been  perched 
in  rather  an  uncomfortable  manner,  was  thrown  forward  by 
it,  and  fell  head  foremost  almost  on  Bob's  lap.  That  wretch- 
ed boy  gave  a  shriek  of  agony,  and  clung  wildly  to  Mr. 
Fripp. 

"Keep  him  off!  keep  him  off!"  he  shouted.  "John, 
John,  don't  let  him  eat  me  up  alive  ! " 

Mr.  Fripp  was  thunderstruck  by  the  liberty  Bob  had 
taken  in  flinging  his  arms  round  his  neck  in  this  uncere- 
monious manner.  Mr.  Gruph  asked  Bob  indignantly  what 
he  meant  by  such  behavior,  and  threatened  to  stop  the 
omnibus  and  tell  Smith  to  turn  out  the  drunken  passenger. 

"  He  isn't  drunk ! "  cried  Bob,  holding  Mr.  Fripp  more 
tightly  than  ever  ;  "  oh  !  don't  I  wish  he  was  !  He's  going 
down  to  the  wild-beast  show,  and  he's  no  business  to  be 
here  at  all." 

"  Of  course   he  hasn't ! "  said  Mr.  Gruph,  indignantly 


2l8  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

"  A  travelling  menagerie  keeper !  If  Smith  goes  on  taking 
such  people  as  this  in,  I  shall  discontinue  to  patronize  his 
omnibus." 

"  He  won't  hurt,"  cried  John,  "  if  you'll  only  let  the  poor 
fellow  be.     Here,  Buffer,  Buffer,  get  up." 

He  drew  Buffer  back  by  the  rope  which  hung  from  his 
neck,  to  the  other  end  of  the  omnibus.  Buffer  growled 
and  Bob  trembled. 

"  Open  the  door  and  throw  him  out.  I  tell  you  you'll 
be  in  for  murder,  John,  if  you  keep  him  in  here." 

"Dear  me!  dear  me!"  said  Mr.  Fripp,  "somebody 
must  actually  have  trusted  these  boys  with  a  madman.  I 
suppose  that  was  his  keeper  left  behind." 

"  It  was  his  keeper,  sure  enough,"  cried  Bob,  "  but  he's 
not  mad  ;  I  only  wish  that  was  the  worst  of  it." 

Mr.  Fripp  looked — or  would  have  looked,  if  there  had 
been  light  enough,  to  see  his  face — aghast.  He  bent  for- 
ward and  whispered  to  Mr.  Gruph,  "  Some  desperate  char- 
acter escaped  from  the  prison  at  St.  Maur.  Taking  him 
back  I  imagine  ;  but  what  a  disgraceful  thing  for  the 
authorities  to  entrust  one  man  only  with  the  charge  of  him. 
I'll  make  inquiries  into  it,  and  write  to  the  Times." 

"  I'll  tell  Smith  if  he  isn't  more  careful  in  his  selection 
of  passengers,  his  omnibus  may  give  up  running.  What 
respectable  persons  does  he  think  will  ever  travel  by  it  if 
they're  liable  to  be  annoyed  in  this  manner,"  replied  Mr 
Gruph,  in  a  tone  which  was  echoed  to  the  life  by  a  grow) 
from  Buffer. 


A    BEAR    IN  BAD    COMPANY.  219 

"  Oh,  John  !  John  !  don't  aggravate  him,"  shrieked  Bob. 
•  If  you  make  him  angry,  there's  no  knowing  what  he  may 
be  up  to." 

Mr.  Fripp  and  Mr.  Gruph  kept  silence  after  this.  The^ 
had  both  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  they  were  shut  up 
with  a  murderer,  or,  at  the  very  least,  a  daring  and  unscru- 
pulous burglar,  and  that  it  would  be  as  well  to  keep  silence 
for  fear  of  irritating  him,  Buffer  travelled  quietly  enough, 
only  now  and  then  emitting  a  faint  growl,  at  which  Bob 
cowered  with  terror,  and  clung  closer  to  Mr.  Fripp.  The 
omnibus  drew  up  at  Mr.  Fripp's  residence,  and  that  gentle- 
man made  ready  to  alight ;  so  did  Mr.  Gruph,  though  his 
house  was  a  little  further  on  the  road,  but  he  did  not  choose 
to  remain  any  longer  in  such  disreputable  society  than  he 
could  help.  A  gas-lamp  stood  just  before  Mr.  Fripp's  gate, 
and  its  light  fell  full  into  the  omnibus.  Mr.  Gruph  had  a 
little  curiosity  to  see  the  features  of  the  supposed  felon 
with  whom  he  was  travelling,  and  turned  to  look  at  him, 
then  started  back  with  affright,  gasping — "  It's — it's  a 
monster ! " 

"No,  he  isn't,"  said  John  ;  "  he's  only  a  bear,  and  a 
well-behaved  one  too ;  ain't  you,  old  fellow  ? " 

He  gave  Buffer  a  slight  poke  in  the  ribs  as  he  spoke, 
and  Buffer  gave  a  low  but  portentous  growl,  which  sent 
Mr.  Gruph  cowering  back  into  the  furthest  corner  of  the 
omnibus. 

Mr.  Fripp  looked  at  Buffer ;  a  look  that  ought  to  have 
reduced  any  bear  to  submission  ;  but  it  had  no  effect  upon 


220  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

Buffer,  who  was  thoroughly  tired  of  the  omnibus,  and  gave 
another  growl.  It  was  clear  that  the  bear  was  worse  even 
than  the  village  school-boys — they  did  stand  in  some  awe 
of  Mr.  Fripp,  but  Buffer  felt  none. 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  Mr.  Fripp  felt  in  a  very  un- 
comfortable position.  He  did  not  at  all  fancy  the  idea  of 
passing  the  bear  to  get  out ;  but  dinner  was  waiting,  Mr. 
Fripp  was  hungry,  and  not  at  all  disposed  to  stop  in  the 
omnibus  all  night. 

Buffer  looked  very  formidable.  Mr.  Fripp  thought  that 
it  would  be  better  to  give  some  other  person  the  task  of 
encountering  him  than  himself,  so  he  put  his  head  out  of 
the  omnibus  window,  and  called  out,  "Smith,  there's  a 
queer  customer  here ;  I  think  you'd  better  get  down  from 
your  box  and  remove  him." 

Smith  did  not  like  engaging  with  "queer  customers" 
any  more  than  Mr.  Fripp  himself  did;  therefore  he  re- 
plied, with  the  utmost  civility,  u  I  daren't  leave  my  horses, 
sir ;  they're  the  spiritedest  pair  I've  driven  for  a  long  while, 
and  there's  no  outside  passenger  left  to  hold  them." 

Then  he  stooped  down  to  the  window  of  the  omnibus, 
and  called  out  aloud,  "  Get  out  there !  do  you  hear  ?  What 
do  you  mean  by  annoying  the  gentlemen  ? " 

"He's  quiet  enough,  Smith,"  said  John,  "  don't  be  fright- 
ened. Besides,  if  the  worst  comes  to  the  worst,  he  can 
only  hug ;  he's  muzzled  and  can't  bite." 

Then  he  gave  Buffer  another  push  in  the  ribs,  which  set 
him  growling  again,  to  Mr.  Graph's  horror,  who  sat  down.. 


A    BEAR    IN  BAD    COMPANY.  221 

trembling  all  over ;  but  that  did  not  last  long,  he  recovered 
himself  sufficiently  to  tell  John  he  would  have  him  punish- 
ed with  the  utmost  severity  of  the  law,  to  say  nothing  of  a 
good  caning  from  his  master ;  swore  at  the  bear  and 
John  too  till  he  was  redder  in  the  face  than  ever,  and  only 
stopped  when  fairly  exhausted  for  want  of  breath.  A 
crowd  had  gathered  round  the  omnibus  door  by  this  time, 
and  they  were  all  edified  by  Mr.  Gruph's  oration,  when  Mr. 
Sims,  who  had  run  after  the  omnibus  with  all  the  speed  he 
could  use,  fearing  for  the  safety  of  his  beloved  bear,  came 
up  and  called  out,  "  Is  Buffer  there  ?" 

"  Here  he  is,  and  he's  behaved  like  a  brick.  I  told 
you  he  would  if  he  was  only  treated  properly,"  cried 
John.  "Mr.  Sims,  this  bear  is  the  most  rational  and  in- 
telligent individual  I  ever  met  with  in  my  life.  My  knife 
was  so  blunt  I  couldn't  cut  all  the  ropes  that  fastened 
him;  but,  if  you'll  only  lend  me  yours,  I'll  soon  let  him 
loose,  and  you'll  see  him  walk  out  amongst  you  all,  like 
a  gentleman." 

There  was  a  cry  from  the  assembled  crowd,  and  a  rush- 
ing back  from  the  door  of  the  omnibus.  "  A  bear !  a 
bear !  a  real  live  bear !  shut  in  there  alone  with  Mr.  Gruph 
and  Mr.  Fripp.  Boys,  men,  and  women  fell  over  one 
another  in  their  haste  to  escape  ;  instead  of  trying  which 
should  be  nearest  the  omnibus,  it  was  who  should  get 
farthest  off.  Never  yet  had  Studleigh  witnessed  such  a 
scene  of  confusion  and  dismay;  and,  if  Buffer  had  not 
been   the   best   behaved   bear   in   the   world,  the   uproar 


222  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

around  him  might  have  driven  him  to  the  very  measures 
which  every  one  seemed  afraid  he  would  take. 

Mr.  Gruph  swore  more  than  ever,  Mr.  Sims  heard  him 
with  as  much  composure  as  his  bear,  on  whom,  however, 
he  kept  his  eye  fixed,  while  he  held  uplifted  a  stout  stick 
which  he  carried.  John  was  highly  indignant  at  this ;  and 
began  a  remonstrance  with  Mr.  Sims  on  the  injurious  effect 
the  sight  of  the  stick  was  likely  to  have  on  Buffer's  feelings, 
but  his  eloquence  was  drowned  in  the  torrent  of  Mr. 
Gruph's  words;  and  at  last,  when  that  gentleman  again 
paused,  Mr.  Fripp  leaned  forward,  and,  addressing  Mr. 
Sims,  blandly  said,  "  My  good  man,  can  you  think  of  no 
way  by  which  to  remove  this  extremely  dangerous  ani- 
mal from  the  omnibus,  in  order  that  we  may  leave  it  with 
safety." 

"  Of  course  I  can,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Sims,  with  the  utmost 
politeness ;  "  happy  to  do  anything  to  oblige  a  gentleman. 
Buffer,  Buffer,  come  along."  Then  he  stepped  up  to  the 
door  of  the  omnibus,  and  taking  hold  of  the  rope  round 
Buffer's  neck,  turned  towards  Mr.  Gruph,  "Hope  you've 
enjoyed  your  ride,  sir,  as  much  as  you  did  the  night  when 
you  wouldn't  let  a  woman  with  a  baby  in  her  arms  get  in 
out  of  the  pouring  rain.  Good-night,  sir,"  he  added,  turn 
ing  to  Mr.  Fripp,  "  I  hope  my  bear's  not  put  you  out  of 
your  way.  But  it  strikes  me  you've  travelled  with  a 
worse  one  than  him  before  now." 

Then  Buffer  descended,  and  was  led  off  to  the  van, 
which  was  standing  on  a  piece  of  ground  rejoicing  in  the 


A    BEAR    IN   BAD    COMPANY.  223 

name  of  Studleigh  Heath ;  and  Mr.  Fripp,  with  a  little  of 
his  usual  dignity  abated,  left  the  omnibus;  Mr.  Gruph 
followed,  vowing  vengeance  against  Buffer,  his  master,  and 
the  boys ;  and  last  of  all  came  Bob  and  John,  the  former 
making  use  of  his  liberty  to  run  home  with  his  utmost 
speed  to  Uncle  George,  and  the  latter  full  of  his  adven- 
tures with  the  bear,  and  his  triumph.  Mr.  Gruph  pro- 
ceeded, at  a  more  leisurely  pace,  to  recount  his  exploits  at 
home. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A    NEW   FIELD    OF    ACTION    FOR    JOHN.       HIS   FIRST    IMPRES- 
SIONS  OF    WOODHURST. 

TT  shows  how  ungrateful  people  are  (at  least  John 
-*•  always  said  so)  to  those  who  try  to  advance  their  views 
in  any  matters,  but,  after  this  last  little  affair,  he  was  not 
nearly  so  popular  in  the  village  as  he  had  been.  Even 
Mrs.  Ashdell  saw  it,  and  it  vexed  her  very  much.  John's 
"ideas"  had  made  people  take  an  idea  into  their  heads, 
and  that  was  that  he  was  a  rather  dangerous  person  to  have 
to  do  with.  There  was  no  knowing  what  he  might  be  up  to 
next,  as  they  expressed  it ;  they  felt  quite  afraid  of  him  and 
his  experiments,  and  openly  said  they  were  almost  afraid 
to  sleep  in  their  beds  as  long  as  John  Ashdell  was  in  the 
village. 

This  grieved  Mrs.  Ashdell  very  much.  She  had  lived 
so  long  in  Studleigh  that  the  thought  of  leaving  it  was 
very  painful  to  her ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  to  feel  that 
John,  her  bright,  clever,  handsome  John,  was  not  appre- 
ciated as  he  deserved  to  be,  was  almost  enough  to  make 
her  dislike  the  place  and  everybody  in  it.     Uncle  George 


A    NEW  FIELD    OF   ACTION.  225 

had  a  remedy;  he  said  the  best  thing  would  be  to  send 
John  to  school  again — a  good  sharp  boarding-school, 
where  the  nonsense,  as  he  expressed  it,  might  be  taken  out 
of  him.  Mrs.  Ashdell  couldn't  agree  with  him ;  she  didn't 
herself  think  that  there  was  any  nonsense  in  John ;  it  was 
only  his  way ;  he  was  a  great  deal  cleverer  than  other 
people,  only  he  had  an  odd  way  of  showing  it,  that  was  all. 
In  the  midst  of  her  troubles  and  perplexities,  there 
came  a  letter  from  an  uncle  of  hers,  who  was  a  surgeon  in 
a  thriving  little  town  thirty  miles  from  Studleigh,  on  the 
same  line  of  rail.  He  was  a  widower,  his  two  daughters 
were  married  and  had  left  the  neighborhood ;  and,  feeling 
lonely,  it  had  occurred  to  him  that  if  his  niece  came  to 
reside  in  Woodhurst,  it  might  be  a  good  thing  for  them 
both  ;  she  might  live  with  him  and  keep  his  house.  He 
had  always  been  fond  of  her,  though  of  late  he  had  seen 
very  little  of  her ;  but  he  remembered  that  she  had  a  son, 
and,  before  committing  himself  further,  he  thought  he 
should  like  to  see  what  this  son  was  like.  Boys  were  not 
always  desirable  inmates  in  a  quiet  house,  as  the  doctoi 
very  well  knew.  He  had  had  some  as  pupils,  and  trouble 
enough  with  them.  No ;  before  asking  John's  mother  to 
reside  with  him,  he  would  see  what  John  himself  was  like, 
therefore  he  suggested  that  he  should  come  and  stay  with 
him  for  some  months ;  there  was  a  good  grammar-school 
in  the  neighborhood  ;  John  might  attend  it,  and  improve 
himself  in  Latin  and  Greek,  which  his  great-uncle  suspect- 
ed he  was  not  so  forward  in  as  he  might  be.  The  change 
IS 


226  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

would  do  him  good, —  the  town  was  by  the  side  of  a  rivei 
that  entered  the  sea  seven  miles  off,  and  the  saline  breezes, 
softened  by  their  passage  over  the  land,  made  Woodhurst, 
in  Mr.  Sumner's  opinion,  a  pleasanter  residence  than  the 
seaside  itself.  In  the  autumn  he  hoped  that  his  niece 
would  come  and  stay  a  month  or  two  with  him,  and  at  that 
time,  if  he  found  John  was  as  endurable  as  could  be 
expected  of  a  boy,  he  would  ask  Mrs.  Ashdell  to  take 
up  her  residence  with  him,  and  bring  up  John,  if  he  showed 
himself  adapted  for  it,  to  his  own  profession. 

Uncle  George  liked  the  notion  of  John's  going  to 
Woodhurst  very  much.  "  People  will  forget  all  about  his 
pranks  when  he's  no  longer  in  the  way  to  remind  them 
what  a  noodle  he  is."  And  his  grandmother  was  pleased 
at  the  thought  of  his  going  to  stay  with  her  brother,  but 
she  spoke  of  it  in  quite  different  terms  to  what  Uncle 
George  did. 

"  Something  will  come  of  it,  Mary,  my  dear,"  she  said 
to  her  daughter.  "  Brother  Phil  will  see  what  John  is,  and 
be  delighted  with  him.  That  boy's  thrown  away  in  a  village 
like  this.  They  are  so  much  behind  the  time,  and  he  being 
so  far  before  his,  of  course  they  don't  understand  him. 
Brother  Phil  will ;  and,  you'll  see,  he'll  want  to  take  him 
into  his  business,  and  John  will  do  well  at  it.  Well !  he'll 
be  as  famous  as  Abernethy  or  Liston,  or  any  of  the  gentle- 
men that  attend  Her  Majesty — I'm  sure  I  can't  think  of 
their  names,  but  I  know  they're  all  baronets  at  the  least ; 
and  there's  no  reason  why  John  shouldn't  be  a  baronet  too; 


A    NEW  FIELD    OF   ACTION.  227 

and  a  credit  to  his  family.     I  don't  mind  what  they  say,  my 
dear,  I  have  such  faith  in  that  boy ! " 

That  was  the  worst  of  it.  John  wouldn't  have  been  half 
such  a  goose  as  he  was,  if  his  grandmother,  and  his  mother 
too,  had  not  had  such  "  faith  "  in  him.  If  possible,  they  be- 
lieved in  him  even  more  than  he  believed  in  himself,  and, 
knowing  this,  Uncle  George  was  doubly  anxious  that  the 
boy  should  leave  Studleigh  for  a  time.  Woodhurst  had 
a  great  many  more  people  in  it  than  the  little  village  where 
John  had  spent  more  than  half  his  life ;  the  Grammar 
School  would  be  much  larger  even  than  the  one  which 
John  had  attended  at  Bessingham ;  and  altogether  it  seem- 
ed to  Mr.  George  Ashdell  that  the  boy  would  be  likely,  at 
last,  to  find  his  level,  and  learn  that  there  were  a  few 
persons  in  the  world,  besides  himself,  who  knew  how 
things  should  be  done. 

John  himself  was  delighted  at  the  thoughts  of  going. 
He  was  an  affectionate  boy,  and  sorry  to  leave  his  mother 
but  even  that  could  not  destroy  the  pleasure  he  anticipated. 
Like  another  Alexander,  he  saw  new  worlds  to  conquer. 
Here  would  be  people  who  had  never  heard  of  him  before 
to  impress  with  his  views  and  notions  as  to  how  matters 
should  be  managed, — people  whose  own  notions  would  not 
be  so  cramped  as  always  were  those  of  dwellers  in  a  little 
village, — John  now  looked  with  a  little  contempt  upon 
Studleigh,  and  wondered  how  he  had  borne  with  the  igno- 
rance of  its  people  so  patiently  as  he  had  done. 

He  promised  to  write  to  his  mother  very  often,  and  she 


228  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

in  return  said  she  would  send  him  all  the  news  of  the  vil 
lage  every  week.  She  made  him  a  great  cake  to  take  with 
him ;  had  a  new  suit  of  clothes  made  for  him ;  looked  over 
his  shirts ;  gave  him  a  new  Bible ;  and  so  at  last  let  him 
go,  seeing  him  off  by  the  railway,  and  waving  her  hand  to 
him  as  he  was  borne  out  of  sight. 

John  was  rather  low-spirited  at  first ;  but  the  novelty 
of  travelling  through  a  fresh  country,  the  importance  of 
paying  a  visit,  and  the  pleasure  to  which  he  looked  for- 
ward from  that  visit,  soon  drove  his  depression  away.  The 
train  was  a  quick  one,  and  before  he  thought  they  could 
possibly  be  at  Woodhurst,  it  had  stopped,  and  John  saw  a 
gentleman  near  the  carriage  door,  who  he  thought  must  be 
his  great-uncle,  though  he  had  not  seen  him  for  above 
four  years,  when  he  had  paid  a  visit  to  Studleigh.  John 
was  right ;  it  was  Mr.  Sumner,  and  he  held  out  his  hand  as 
John  jumped  out  of  the  carriage. 

"I  thought  I  knew  you  again,  though  you've  grown 
very  much,  but  that  was  no  more  than  I  expected.  Come 
along,  here's  the  gig :  jump  in,  and  we'll  be  home  in  a  trice." 

Mr.  Sumner  was  a  great  contrast  to  Uncle  George, 
who,  as  the  saying  is,  would  have  made  two  of  him.  He 
was  a  small,  slight,  wiry  man,  with  grey  heir,  a  rosy  face, 
and  a  pair  of  the  keenest,  brightest  eyes,  John  thought,  that 
he  had  ever  seen.  He  liked  his  uncle's  appearance  on  the 
whole.  "  Looks  sensible,"  said  John  to  himself,  "  and  as 
if  he  wouldn't  take  a  dislike  to  a  notion,  just  because  it 
was  not  his  own,  or  nobody  else  had  heard  of  it  before." 


A    NEW  FIELD    OF   ACTION.  229 

The  town  looked  bright  and  lively  as  they  drove 
through.  It  boasted  of  one  omnibus  and  half  a  dozen 
cabs.  People  were  bustling  to  and  fro  in  a  different 
manner  to  that  in  which  they  went  about  Studleigh,  and 
John,  as  he  looked  about  him,  began  to  feel  as  if  he  had 
come  amongst  folks,  at  last,  who  were  likely  to  appreciate 
him. 

They  were  not  long  in  reaching  Mr.  Sumner's  house. 
He  had  his  shop,  or  surgery — as  his  daughters,  who  were 
both  now  married,  liked  to  call  it — in  the  front,  and  his 
private  door  round  the  corner.  The  old  gentleman  led 
the  way  through  his  shop,  and  stopped  to  ask  the  assistant 
— who  was  so  pale  and  thin  that  John  thought  he  must  be 
in  the  habit  of  taking  more  physic  than  agreed  with  him — 
if  he  bad  been  wanted  while  away.  While  they  were  talk- 
ing, John  looked  about  him  and  wondered  if  out  of  any  of 
the  bright  bottles  he  saw  in  the  window  he  could  make 
some  fresh  combination  which  would  cure  everybody's  ail- 
ments. Then  he  saw  a  little  machine  on  the  counter,  and 
incautiously  laying  his  hand  on  it,  the  assistant  turned  a 
nandle,  and  John  found  himself  tingling  all  over  with  the 
suddenness  of  the  shock  he  had  received. 

"  Shouldn't  meddle  with  anything  in  a  doctor's  shop," 
said  Mr.  Sumner,  good-humoredly  ;  "  Knaggs,  here,  has  a 
habit  of  paying  people  off  if  they  do.  Now  come  in  to 
tea  ;  shut  the  shop-door,  Knaggs.  People  can  ring  the 
bell,  if  they  want  you." 

Mr.  Sumner  did  not  rely  very  much  upon  his  shop.    Pie 


230  THE    BOY    WITH    AN   IDEA. 

kept  it  open  because  he  had  done  so  from  the  first,  but  he 
could  have  done  very  well  without  it.  His  daughters  had 
long  wished  him  to  close  it,  because  it  was  not  genteel ; 
and,  oh  !  dear  boys,  if  you've  never  lived  in  a  country  town, 
you  don't  know  what  a  dreadful  thing  it  is  not  to  be  gen- 
teel ;  but  the  old  gentleman  kept  it  on  out  of  sheer  habit, 
though,  as  he  said,  Knaggs  shouldn't  be  disturbed  at  his  meals 
to  sell  a  sixpenny  pot  of  cold  cream  ;  and  if  people  wanted 
anything  more  serious,  why,  they  could  ring  the  bell  for  it. 

Tea  was  ready  in  the  parlor  at  the  back  of  the  shop, — 
cold  ham,  tea-cakes,  and  other  things.  John  had  made  a 
good  dinner  only  three  hours  before,  so  that  he  was  not 
very  hungry  now,  and  he  had  plenty  of  time  to  talk,  which 
he  did.  Mr.  Knaggs,  who  had  always  an  excellent  ap- 
petite, sat  and  listened. 

"  I  should  like  to  know  a  little  more,"  said  John,  "  about 
that  electrical  machine  of  yours,  uncle.  I've  got  an  '  idea ' 
you  can  do  a  great  deal  with  galvanism." 

"  So  you  can,"  said  Knaggs,  opening  his  mouth  for  the 
first  time  to  talk ;  "  I  should  have  thought  that  little  touch 
I  gave  you  would  have  shown  you  that." 

John  felt  rather  disgusted.  Who  was  Knaggs,  that  he 
should  snub  him  like  this — not  much  more  than  three  years 
his  senior  ?  he  didn't  look  above  eighteen  ;  perhaps  it  was 
that  he  was  a  doctor's  assistant.  "  I'll  back,"  said  John  to 
himself,  "  I'll  learn  all  he  knows,  and  a  sight  more,  before 
I've  been  a  month  in  the  place.  It  don't  seem  as  if  1 
should  get  on  well  with  that  fellow." 


A    NEW  FIELD    OF  ACTION.  23 1 

"You'll  have  something  else  to  think  of  for  a  time," 
said  Mr.  Sumner.  "The  Grammar-school  opens  to-mor 
row,  and  I  want  you  to  work  hard  at  your  Latin  ;  the  mas- 
ter here  is  great  in  that.  Then  I  think  if  you  were  to  at- 
tend the  School  of  Art  in  the  evening,  it  would  be  as  well. 
Your  mother  tells  me  you've  a  great  notion  of  drawing,  but 
that  you  have  not  had  much  instruction.  We've  a  good 
master  at  the  School  of  Art,  and  I  always  say  that  every 
one  ought  to  learn  free-hand  drawing  just  as  they  do  wri- 
ting.    You  never  know  how  useful  it  may  prove — " 

"  Just  what  I  think,"  said  John.  "  Indeed,  I've  got  an 
'  idea '  that  if  we  could  only  draw  well,  we  might  do  with- 
out writing  altogether.  Have  a  system  of  hieroglyphics, 
like  the  ancient  Egyptians  had." 

"  Ah !  you  go  beyond  me  there,"  said  his  uncle,  "though 
I  dare  say  it  would  be  quite  as  intelligible  as  the  scrawls 
some  people  call  writing ; "  then  he  poured  himself  out  an- 
other cup  of  tea ;  that  was  his  fifth !  The  little  doctor 
drank  more  tea  and  stronger  than  any  gentleman  in  the 
town.  The  eating  he  seemed  to  leave  pretty  well  to 
Knaggs,  who  went  on  steadily  at  it.     John  continued : 

"  I  don't  quite  agree  with  the  modern  notions  about 
perspective,  and  light  and  shade.  I  think  in  the  last  mat- 
ter the  Chinese  have  some  sense  on  their  side,  and  per- 
spective might  be  made  a  much  simpler  matter  than  it  is. 
Now,  I've  got  an  '  idea ' — " 

"  Better  tell  it  to  the  master,  Mr.  Ray,"  said  Knaggs, 
with  his  mouth  full  of  tea-cake,  "  and  see  what  he'll  say  to  it" 


232  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

"  That  fellow's  a  nuisance,"  thought  John ;  "  I  wish  I 
was  big  enough  to  lick  him."  Mr.  Sumner  looked  amused 
His  little  bright  eyes  grew  brighter  and  keener  as  he 
watched  the  two.  Presently  there  was  a  ring  at  the  bell. 
Mr.  Sumner  was  wanted  to  see  to  somebody's  boy,  who  had 
been  climbing  a  ladder  up  which  he  had  no  business  to  go, 
fallen  down,  and  broken  his  arm.  Off  Mr.  Sumner  went, 
leaving  Knaggs  and  John  together.  "  Make  yourselves 
comfortable,"  he  said,  "  while  I  am  gone.  I  shall  find  you 
as  good  friends  when  I  come  back  as  if  you'd  known  one 
another  all  your  lives." 

John  didn't  think  so.  He  had  finished  his  tea,  but  he 
sat  and  looked  at  Knaggs,  who  seemed  as  if  he  would  never 
get  through  his. 

At  last  he  had  done,  and  went  back  to  the  shop,  where 
he  amused  himself  with  looking  over  a  book — a  medical 
one  to  judge  by  the  pictures — and  John  finding  an  old  vol- 
ume of  "  Robinson  Crusoe,"  the  two  passed  the  evening 
not  very  sociably  till  Mr.  Sumner  came  home,  and  Black, 
the  man  of  all  work,  put  the  shutters  up,  after  which  they 
had  supper,  prayers,  and  then  to  bed ;  when  John  dreamed 
he  was  telling  Knaggs  of  the  theory  of  perpetual  motion, 
and  exemplifying  it  by  making  him  dance  a  hornpipe  with 
the  galvanic  apparatus  applied  to  his  leg,  and  keeping  him 
jerking  up  and  down  whether  he  would  or  not. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

JOHN    MEETS   AN  OLD    FRIEND.      HOW  BETWEEN   THEM  THE1 
ASTONISH  THE  NATIVES. 

'  I  "HE  next  morning  John  was  down  early  and  in  the 
•*•  shop,  where  Knaggs  was  already  busy  compounding 
medicines.  John  offered  to  help  him.  Nothing  he  would 
have  liked  better  if  the  other  would  only  have  trusted  him  ; 
but  that  was  what  Knaggs  did  not  feel  disposed  to  do. 
John  had  to  look  on,  while  he  spread  plasters  and  mixed 
pills  ;  and  at  last  getting  tired  of  this  amusement,  he  asked 
Knaggs  when  they  breakfasted,  as  he  should  like  to  take 
a  tour  round  the  town,  and  see  what  there  was  to  be  seen, 
if  there  was  time  to  do  so/ 

"  You've  got  a  good  haif-hour,"  said  Knaggs,  "  and  I 
shall  get  on  just  as  well  without  you  as  with  you.  I  don't 
pound  pills  any  the  better  for  being  looked  at. 

John  thought  Knaggs  about  the  most  disagreeable  per- 
son he  had  ever  encountered  ;  but  the  truth  was,  Knaggs, 
though  in  years  a  mere  boy,  was  one  of  the  "  old  school " — 
a  thorough  Conservative,  if  you  know  what  that  is,  boys ; 
although  Knaggs  would  tell  you  himself,  he  never  med- 


^34  THE   B0Y    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

died  at  all  with  politics ;  a  lad  who  had  little  faith  in  any- 
thing new,  who  liked  to  go  on  the  same  beaten  road  from 
one  year's  end  to  another,  and  who  looked  upon  John  as  a 
very  dangerous  and  rather  unpleasant  person.  He  didn't 
like  his  "  ideas"  at  all.  He  was  not  quite  as  much  alarmed 
by  them  as  the  good  people  of  Studleigh  had  been,  for  he 
meant  to  keep  an  eye  upon  John,  and  see  that  he  did  not 
meddle  with  anything  in  the  shop ;  but  then  he  didn't 
want  the  bother  of  keeping  that  eye,  having  —  to  use 
his  own  expression— quite  enough  to  do  without  looking 
after  anybody,  and  from  all  that  John  had  said,  Knaggs 
wouldn't  have  been  at  all  surprised  if  John  had  wanted 
to  spread  poor  man's  plaster  with  brimstone  and  treacle, 
and  make  cough-mixture  of  soap  and  water. 

"  Well,  I  think  I  shall  take  a  turn,"  said  John.  "  Is 
there  anything  in  the  town  worth  looking  at  ? " 

"  Not  by  you,  I  dare  say,"  said  Knaggs.  "  We're  slow 
people  down  here.  It  can't  be  expected  folks  that  come 
from  London  will  think  much  about  us." 

"  Oh  !  /  don't  come  from  London,"  said  John,  "  though 
I've  seen  a  good  deal  of  it ;  Studleigh  is  much  nearer  to  it 
than  Woodhurst.  I  like  London,  though,  pretty  well ;  but 
it's  too  big,  that's  the  worst  of  it,  and  the  smoke's  a  nui- 
sance. Such  a  waste,  too.  Do  you  know,  I've  got  an 
*  idea  ' — had  it  for  a  long  time,  too — that  a  deal  might  be 
done  with  that  smoke.  I  don't  mean  merely  consume  it- 
self— that's  nothing  !  but  consume  other  things.  Catch 
it ;  condense  it ;  turn  it  back  into  coal  again,  and  there 


JOHN   MEETS    AN    OLD    FRIEND.         235 

you  are !  Look  at  the  saving !  Look  at  the  fuel  you 
get ! — an  inexhaustible  supply  !  And  they're  saying  that 
if  we  go  on  as  we're  doing  now,  we  sha'n't  have  coal 
enough  to  last  us  above  another  thousand  years  or  so. 
What's  to  become  of  our  great-grandchildren  at  that  rate, 
that's  what  I  want  to  know,"  said  John,  putting  his  hands 
in  his  pockets,  and  looking  every  inch  a  great-grandfather. 
"  Some  day  I  think  I  shall  take  out  a  patent  for  that  no- 
tion. It'll  pay.  I  see  you've  got  a  stove  here  ;  if  I  stop 
till  the  winter  I  shall  ask  uncle  to  let  me  try  with  that. 
It's  safest  to  begin  on  a  small  scale,  you  know — " 

"  Have  you  done  ?  "  said  Knaggs — he  had  left  off  his 
compounding  and  looked  intently  at  John — "  because  if 
you  have,  I'll  go  on.  But  I  don't  want  to  be  poisoning  peo- 
ple, and  I  am  likely  to  do  it  if  this  chattering  goes  on 
much  longer." 

"  Don't  trouble  yourself;  I'll  go,"  said  John,  disdainfully. 
"  It  really  seems  throwing  one's  words  away  to  waste  them 
upon  you" 

Then  he  went  out,  wishing  for  Bob,  who  always  ap- 
preciated him,  or  for  Teddy  Harley,  who,  if  he  did  now  and 
then  quiz  him  a  little,  still  seemed  on  the  whole  to  have 
quite  sense  enough  to  enter  into  some  of  his  "  ideas." 
(:  Knaggs  is  a  muff!  "  he  said,  "  and  a  prig  !  and  a  mule  ! — 
an  obstinate,  piggish  mule, — and  while  I'm  in  this  place  I'll 
have  as  little  to  say  to  him  as  possible." 

If  Knaggs  had  only  known  that,  how  thankful  he  would 
have  been ! 


21,6  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

On  John  went,  looking  at  the  queer,  old-fashioned  little 
town ;  at  the  gabled  houses  and  the  red-tiled  roofs,  and 
thinking  how  different  it  all  was  from  London,  or  the  little 
village  where  he  had  hitherto  spent  his  life.  It  was  a 
thriving,  prosperous  little  place,  and  the  river  was  already 
astir  with  pleasure-boats  and  steamers  getting  their  coals 
and  provisions  on  board  before  they  went  off  to  London 
or  to  the  neighboring  seaport,  which  was  fast  rising  in 
importance  as  a  watering-place.  There  were  people  al- 
ready taking  the  air  on  the  quay,  which  was  a  broad  gravel 
walk  planted  with  trees.  The  breeze  from  the  water 
smelled  quite  strongly  of  the  sea ;  and  John,  as  he  sniffed 
it  up,  said,  "  I've  got  an  '  idea  '  that  this  might  be  bottled 
somehow,  just  as  they  do  perfumes.  Why  not  ?  It  would 
be  uncommonly  refreshing,  and  do  one  almost  as  much 
good  as  going  to  sea.  It  would  sell  too,  amazingly — give  it 
a  Latin  name,  and  a  cut-glass  bottle.  What  a  fine  thing 
it  would  be  for  any  chemist  to  get  hold  of !  I'd  tell  that 
Knaggs  of  it,  if  he  wasn't  such  a  queer  fellow  ;  but  it's  no 
good  throwing  away  anything  upon  him." 

On  he  went,  noticing  everything — the  boatmen  getting 
their  craft  ready  for  the  day's  work ;  the  cleaning  and  load- 
ing of  the  steamboats ;  the  people  bustling  to  and  fro,  and 
thinking  how  much  better  he  could  do  everything  than 
anybody  else  was  doing  it,  when  presently  he  saw  a  tall, 
slight,  gentlemanly  lad,  sauntering  along  with  his  hands  in 
his  pockets,  and  surveying  all  around  with  an  air  of  calm, 
half-contemptuous  indifference.     He  was  su^e  he  knew  the 


JOHN  MEETS   AN   OLD   FRIEND.         237 

face  and  the  figure.  Was  it — could  it  be  Teddy  Harley — 
and  whatever  brought  him  here  ?  He  ran  up  to  him  at 
once — "  Ted  !  old  fellow  !  is  that  you  ?  What  a  comfort 
to  have  a  rational  soul  to  speak  to  ! " 

Ted  deigned  to  show  a  little  interest  now.  "  How  did 
you  come  here  ? "  he  said.  "  I  came  by  the  boat  yesterday 
from  London.  We've  been  staying  at  Richmond  on  a  visit 
for  the  last  fortnight ;  then  we  thought  we'd  go  to  Fellrow 
for  sea-air.  The  governor's  been  ailing,  and  they  say  Fellrow 
will  just  suit  him.  The  mater  and  he  are  going  by  the 
omnibus  there  to-day,  to  look  for  lodgings.  It's  an  idiotic 
little  place,  I  should  say,"  added  Ted,  superciliously. 
"  Nothing  goes  direct  to  it  but  just  that  omnibus.  No  rail, 
no  boat, — and  we're  to  live  there  for  a  month.  Some  people, 
they  say,  live  there  for  years  !  How  they  stand  it,  I  can't 
think.  It  seems  to  me  rather  a  sell,  going  there  for  one's 
holidays  ;  still,  if  the  governor's  seedy,  you  know  there's 
nothing  else  to  be  done.  I  wonder  how  we  shall  get 
through  the  time !  Pick  up  periwinkles  and  throw  stones 
in  the  water — that's  the  only  thing  that  I  see  for  it." 

"  I'll  come  and  see  you,"  said  John,  enthusiastically. 
"  I'm  down  here  staying  with  my  great-uncle.  I'm  to  go 
to  the  Grammar-school  to  rub  up  my  Latin,  and  the 
School  of  Art  to  get  up  my  drawing ;  but  I'll  find  time  to 
come  and  see  you  every  half-holiday.  What's  seven  miles 
for  the  sake  of  getting  a  little  rational  conversation ! " 

"Ah!  I  don't  suppose  you'll  get  much  of  that  here," 
said  Ted,  gravely.     "But  what  can  be   expected  from  a 


238  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

country  town,  you  know.  I  think  all  country  towns  are  a 
hundred  years  behind  the  time, — and  you're  to  go  to  the 
Grammar-school.  Why  didn't  they  send  you  to  the  great 
South  Middlesex.  I  think  that's  the  only  place  in  the 
kingdom  worth  calling  a  school." 

Ted  seemed  quite  to  forget  that  there  were  such  places 
as  Eaton,  Rugby,  or  Harrow,  and  his  speaking  as  he  did  of 
country  towns  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  though 
for  several  years  he  had  lived  in  the  village  of  Studleigh,  he, 
in  common  with  most  of  the  better-class  resident  there,  re- 
garded himself  as  a  Londoner,  and  the  pretty  little  village 
only  as  a  suburb  of  the  great  city.  He  would  have  scout- 
ed the  idea  of  his  being  anything  but  a  metropolitan,  be- 
cause it  took  him  half-an-hour  by  rail  to  reach  the  me- 
tropolis,— as  would  every  gentleman  who  went  to  and  from 
his  business  and  his  home  by  the  same  train  that  carried 
Ted  towards  his  school. 

"  It's  not  a  bad  place,"  said  John,  "  and  I  think  I  shall 
like  it  for  a  time.  I  suppose  some  of  the  boys  at  the 
school  will  have  something  in  them,  and  I  want  to  get  on 
with  my  Latin.  I  wish  you'd  ask  your  governor  if  you 
could  spend  the  day  with  me.  It'll  be  a  precious  sight  bet- 
ter than  mooning  about  by  yourself." 

"So  it  will,"  said  Ted.  "I'll  go  home  at  once  and  ask 
him.  Where  do  you  hang  out,  —  shall  I  come  to 
you  ? " 

"Do,  and  I'll  show  you  Knaggs;  he's  the  biggest  muff 
that  ever  you  saw.     When  my  uncle  makes  a  doctor  of 


JOHN  MEETS    AN    OLD    FRIEND.         239 

Ktm,  I  shall  believe  in  making  a  purse  out  of  a  sow's  ear." 
Then  he  told  Ted  where  he  could  find  him,  and  went 
back  to  breakfast. 

Mr.  Harley  was  very  ready  to  let  Ted  spend  the  day 
with  hi';  friend.  It  was  much  better  than  having  his  com- 
pany al  Fellrow,  or  leaving  him  to  roam  about  by  him- 
self; and  Ted,  having  seen  his  father  and  mother  safely 
off  by  the  omnibus,  proceeded  at  once  to  Mr.  Sumner's 
house,  where  he  found  John  eagerly  expecting  him. 

The  little  doctor  asked  him  to  come  in  to  dinner,  and 
said  that  if  he  could  spare  the  time  afterwards  he  would 
take  them  both  out  with  him.  "  I  haven't  many  people  to 
see  to-day,"  he  said,  "  and  I  think  I  shall  get  through  my 
rounds  this  morning.  Afterwards  I'll  take  you  and  let 
you  see  what  little  our  town  has  to  show." 

So  he  did  ;  giving  them  first  a  capital  dinner,  at  which 
Knaggs  sat  looking  very  melancholy,  but  eating  all  before 
him  in  a  business-like  manner.  Ted  made  himself  quite 
at  home,  showing  off  a  few  of  his  grand  airs  for  the  benefit 
of  Knaggs,  who  had  something  else  to  do  than  to  attend  to 
them,  and  if  Ted  meant,  as  he  had  told  John  he  wanted, 
to  "astonish  the  natives,"  he  certainly  failed  to  do  so  in  the 
case  of  Knaggs.  Mr.  Sumner  was  rather  annoyed  by  the 
boy,  though  he  was  just  as  well  pleased  that  John  seemed 
free  from  any  nonsense  of  the  kind.  "  He  won't  be  here 
long  enough  to  do  the  other  any  harm,"  he  thought  to 
himself.  "I  shouldn't  like  John  to  take  up  with  any  of 
his  notions." 


240  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

It  was  not  very  long  before  he  found  out  that  John  had 
quite  enough  of  his  own. 

They  went  round  the  town,  and  Ted  condescended  to 
praise  some  of  the  shops,  and  said  he  should  certainly  buy 
a  shilling  knife  in  one  of  them, — people  ought  to  patronize 
a  place  whenever  they  visited  it.  John  and  he  had  been 
by  the  river  that  morning,  so  the  streets  were  fresh  to 
them  both  ;  then  they  saw  the  Town  Hall,  which  Ted  said 
wasn't  so  bad,  considering ;  and  looked  into  the  Museum, 
which  Ted  also  deigned  to  praise.  "  It  was  a  tidy  little 
affair — very,"  he  said.  "  Everything  that  was  in  it  would 
go  into  one  small  room  of  the  British  Museum ;  but  for  a 
country  place,  it  was  very  well."  Then  they  came  near  a 
white  brick  building,  with  an  imposing  facade,  four  pillars 
supporting  a  pediment,  and  with  "  School  of  Art"  inscribed 
upon  it  in  large  letters. 

"  Shall  we  go  in  here  ? "  said  Mr.  Sumner,  and  in  the 
boys  and  he  went,  removing  a  large  curtain,  and  pushing 
on,  in  spite  of  the  warning  placard  which  said,  "  Students 
only  Admitted." 

They  were  in  a  large,  dreary  looking  room,  with 
sketches  and  unfinished  paintings  round  the  walls.  Casts 
of  fruit,  and  busts,  and  birds  on  the  shelves ;  and  several 
long,  narrow  tables,  at  which  three  or  four  students  were 
at  work.  It  was  lit  by  three  tall  windows  on  one  side,  and 
on  the  opposite  was  the  fire-place,  which  seemed  quite  in- 
adequate, and  certainly  was  so,  to  warm  so  large  and  lofty 
a  room.     Altogether  the  appearance  of  things  was  not  at- 


JOHN  MEETS   AN   OLD   FRIEND.        241 

tractive.  There  was  no  teacher  or  master  present,  and  the 
boys  looked  about  them  a  little  while,  and  then  began  to 
think  it  time  to  come  away. 

"  If  it's  as  slow  as  this  every  time  you  come  here,  you'll 
have  enough  of  it,"  said  Ted.  "  Those  are  such  solid-look- 
ing fellows  over  there.  There  don't  seem  any  chance  of 
getting  up  a  spree  with  any  one  of  them." 

"  It  don't  seem  to  me,"  said  Mr.  Sumner,  "  that  people 
come  to  school  for  the  mere  sake  of  having  a  spree ;  though, 
by  what  I  hear  from  the  other  end  of  the  room,  something 
very  like  one  is  going  on  there." 

There  was  a  curtain  drawn  across  the  further  end  of 
the  room,  and  from  behind  this,  one  could  hear  voices  and 
laughter.  "  A  pretty  way  of  giving  lessons,"  said  Mr. 
Sumner,  who  was  a  little  of  the  old  school,  and  a  great  ad- 
viser of  discipline.  But  the  truth  was  it  was  not  lesson 
time  at  all,  only  a  few  of  the  students  had  come  there  to 
practise,  and  the  master,  with  some  more  of  the  advanced 
pupils,  had  just  finished  a  drawing  from  the  life.  This  was 
something  over  and  above  the  school  routine,  and,  there- 
fore, the  young  ladies  who  had  been  at  work  considered 
themselves  entitled  to  indulge  in  a  little  conversation. 

"  This  is  Mr.  Ray's  room,"  said  Mr.  Sumner,  "  but  1 
suppose  we  may  go  in ;"  and,  pushing  aside  the  curtain,  in 
he  went,  followed  by  Ted  and  John,  who  were  a  little 
amused  by  the  scene  which  met  their  eyes. 

There  was  the  model  and  the  lay  figure,  and  they  were 

both  so  alike  that  at  first  you  could  hardly  tell  which  was 
16 


242  THE  BOY   WITH  AN  IDEA. 

which.  The  model  was  an  old  man  who  got  his  living  by 
working  on  the  quays,  or  gardening,  and  having  rather  a 
fine  face,  long  grey  hair,  and  a  wonderful  power  of  sitting 
still  without  moving  a  muscle  or  even  an  eyelid,  it  had  oc- 
curred to  Mr.  Ray  that  he  would  make  a  very  good  subject 
for  his  pupils  to  draw  from.  Simon  Stone  was  ready  to  sit 
still  as  long  as  he  was  wanted  at  a  very  low  price — it  was 
a  much  easier  way  of  getting  a  little  money  than  by  either 
of  his  ordinary  avocations,  and  let  the  young  ladies  chatter 
as  they  might — and  they  certainly  did  chatter,  if  they  were 
quiet  in  lesson  hours,  because  in  the  great  school-room 
they  were  too  far  apart  for  conversation,  they  made  up  for 
it  when  they  were  in  Mr.  Ray's  smaller  apartment — still 
Simon  Stone  never  smiled  or  moved  ?  he  might  have  been 
a  man  of  marble,  he  was  so  impassive.  And  he  did  for  so 
many  characters — either  a  beggar,  a  smuggler,  or  saint, 
according  as  the  drapery  was  arranged,  but  to-day  he  had 
been  taken  in  his  real  character,  that  of  a  gardener,  with  a 
spade  in  his  hand  and  a  basket  of  vegetables  by  his  side. 

Some  of  the  pupils  wishing  to  have  a  longer  time  than 
the  others  required,  to  study  the  dress  and  "  accessories  " 
f  by  which  they  meant  the  basket  of  carrots  and  turnips  and 
spade),  Simon  had  been  asked  if  he  could  not  lend  some 
of  his  old  clothing  for  the  purpose  of  investing  the  lay  fig- 
ure in  it,  and  to  this  he  had  agreed ;  and  having  brought  a 
suit  of  fustian,  that  was  certainly  past  any  one's  wearing 
but  a  wooden  figure,  who  wouldn't  want  to  move  about  in 
it,  Mr.  Ray  and  he  had  solemnly  invested  the  model  with 


JOHN   MEETS   AN    OLD    FRIEND.         243 

it,  placed  the  spade  and  the  basket  just  as  they  had  been 
placed  by  Simon  himself,  and  then  called  in  the  young 
ladies  to  see  the  figure. 

One  of  the  young  ladies  improved  it  directly.  She  had 
brought  an  old  grey  wig  with  her,  which  was  private  stage 
property,  used  at  home  in  charades,  and  having  placed  this 
on  the  figure,  and  Simon's  old  battered  hat  on  the  top,  it 
was  generally  agreed  that  it  was  hardly  to  be  distinguished 
from  Simon  himself,  and  this  had  called  forth  the  laughter 
which  had  sounded  so  out  of  place  in  Mr.  Sumner's  ears. 
Simon  himself  stood  looking  grimly  on  at  his  duplicate; 
he  always  had  his  clothes  cut  in  one  style,  and  made  of  the 
same  coarse  kind  of  stuff,  and  those  that  he  wore  were  just 
as  dirty  and  patched  as  those  he  had  supplied  the  lay  figure 
with.  The  hat  was  the  exact  fac-simile  of  the  one  he  had 
3n,  only  there  was  a  great  hole  in  the  crown,  which,  how- 
ever, nobody  could  see  when  it  was  on  the  figure's  head, 
and  the  grey  wig  was  so  like  his  own  grey  hair,  that  any 
one  not  in  a  position  to  get  a  good  sight  of  the  face,  could 
hardly  tell  which  was  Simon  and  which  was  the  wooden 
figure  dressed  up  in  his  garments. 

The  young  ladies — there  were  four  of  them — looked 
shyly  at  Mr.  Sumner  when  he  came  in.  The  master  stepped 
forward,  and  Mr.  Sumner  introduced  John  as  a  future  pupil. 

"  Have  you  had  any  instruction  at  all  ?"  said  Mr.  Ray, 
who  looked  good-humored  and  intelligent,  and  to  whom 
John's  heart  warmed  at  once,  as  it  always  did  when  he 
thought  he  had  met  with  anybody  capable  of  understanding 


244  THE  B0Y    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

him,  John  said  that  he  had  not,  "  but  I've  thought  a  great 
deal  about  it.  I  always  had  an  '  idea '  that  a  great  dea. 
more  could  be  done  by  drawing  than  has  ever  yet  been  at- 
tempted. As  I  was  telling  my  uncle  this  morning,  it  is 
only  another  way  of  writing,  only  you  do  it  with  paint  in- 
stead of  pen  and  ink — that's  all.  I  always  had  a  notion, 
ever  since  I  went  to  the  Museum,  that  the  Egyptians  had 
a  great  deal  more  sense  in  them  than  they  get  credit  for. 
I  mean  the  British  Museum,  of  course ;  I've  been  to  yours 
in  this  town ;  it's  a  tidy  little  place ;  but,  of  course,  you 
haven't  got  much  in  it." 

The  young  ladies  stared  all  the  time  at  this  notion. 
Mr.  Sumner  looked  at  his  nephew  in  amazement.  How 
ever  had  his  mother  brought  him  up,  and  where  did  he 
learn  all  this  trash  ?  John  felt  full  of  confidence ;  it  was 
wonderful  how  much  confidence  the  sound  of  his  own 
voice  always  gave  him,  and  he  looked  about  him  at  the 
model  and  at  old  Simon,  who  stood  all  the  time  as  grimly 
and  stiffly  as  his  wooden  fac-simile,  and  then  turned  to  the 
master. 

"  I'm  not  to  draw  from  the  life,  I  know,  sir.  Free-hand 
drawing  is  the  thing  my  uncle  says  I'm  to  go  in  for;  or 
else  I've  always  had  an  'idea'  there's  more  in  the  Chinese 
notion  of  painting  faces  than  we  give  them  credit  for. 
They're  a  wonderful  people,  you  know!  and  I  do  think 
we've  no  business  to  laugh  at  them,  as  we  always  do,  for 
not  shading  their  portraits ;  Nature  doesn't  shade  hers ! 
We  ain't  black  on  one  side  and  white  on  the  other.     The 


JOHN   MEETS    AN    OLD    FRIEND.         245 

same  with  perspective  ;  I  think  we're  wrong  altogether  in 
our  notions  about  that." 

"  Perhaps  you'd  have  us  go  to  the  Chinese,  then,"  said 
his  uncle,  "and  take  the  willow-pattern  plate  for  our  ex- 
ample in  high  art.     What  do  you  say  to  that,  Mr.  Ray  ? " 

"  I  think  our  young  friend,  here,  will  find  before  he  has 
been  long  in  the  school  that  he  has  something  to  learn  as 
well  as  to  teach,"  said  Mr.  Ray,  good-humoredly.  "I 
don't  quite  agree  with  his  idea  at  present — 'tisn't  to  be  ex- 
pected you  know;  but  if  he  does  develop  any  with  which  1 
can  agree,  I  shall  be  very  ready  to  tell  him  so.  When  is 
he  to  begin? — to-morrow,  Mr.  Sumner?  the  sooner  the 
better.  I  think  my  new  pupil  and  I  shall  get  on  very 
well." 

"I'm  sure  of  it,"  said  John.  "Ted,  are  you  going  away 
to-morrow  ?  If  so,  I  may  as  well  begin  work  at  once." 

John  felt  as  if  he  should  like  Mr.  Ray;  there  didn't 
seem  to  be  any  nonsense  about  him;  and  Mr.  Ray  felt 
very  much  inclined  to  like  John.  Everybody  else  did, 
unless,  as  in  the  case  of  the  good  people  of  Studleigh,  his 
ideas  had  made  them  rather  afraid  for  their  personal  safety. 
He  was  so  good-tempered  and  open,  and,  with  all  his  con- 
fidence in  himself,  so  free  from  impertinence,  or  any  idea 
of  giving  offence,  that  for  a  time  at  least  he  was  sure  to 
win  upon  everybody.  He  did  so  now:  all  the  young 
ladies,  who  were  several  years  older  than  him,  took  to  him 
at  once,  so  did  Mrs.  Bligh,  the  superintendent,  who  looked 
after  the  school  in  general,  and  the  young  ladies  in  particu- 


246  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

lar ;  she  turned  to  John  directly.  "  He  is  come  to  teach 
us  everything,"  she  said  to  herself,  with  a  little  amusement ; 
"but  I  do  like  the  boy  for  all  that." 

Mrs.  Knight,  who  kept  the  rooms  in  order,  was  the  only 
person  present,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  Simon  Stone, 
who  did  not  approve  of  the  manner  in  which  John  spoke. 
She  was  a  little  woman,  with  a  pale  face,  and  she  stood  and 
stared  while  he  talked,  opening  her  eyes  to  their  widest 
with  as  much  amazement  as  if  he  had  been  talking  treason 
against  Church  and  State.  John  did  not  see  her — Mrs. 
Bligh  intervening,  and  she  was  every  way  a  contrast  to 
her  subordinate,  looking  comfortable  and  good-tempered 
enough,  as  he  said  afterwards,  to  be  everybody's  mother, 
though  she  had  never  had  boy  or  girl  of  her  own ;  "she's 
a  good  sort,"  said  John  to  himself;  "I  shall  get  on  all 
right  with  her ;  so  I  shall  with  the  master ;  and  I  like  the 
look  of  the  girls,  too,  if  only  they  don't  hinder  one  with 
talking — girls  are  always  such  sure  hands  at  that." 

John  needn't  have  troubled  himself.  The  young  ladies, 
as  a  rule,  never  entered  the  school  in  the  hours  appropria- 
ted to  the  male  pupils  ;  so,  unless  it  was  on  an  occasion  like 
the  present,  he  was  not  at  all  likely  to  see  much  of  them  ; 
but  as  to  talking,  it  would  have  been  a  clever  girl,  indeed, 
who  could  have  done  much  of  that  when  John  was  in  the 
way.  He  looked  at  the  model  again.  "  He's  a  rum-look- 
ing guy,"  he  said,  turning  first  from  Simon  to  the  wooden 
figure,  so  that  neither  could  tell  to  whom  the  compliment 
belonged.     "  I  suppose  he's  dressed  like  that  to  save  keep- 


JOHN   MEETS   AN   OLD   FRIEND.         247 

ing  this  old  gentleman  standing.  Not  a  bad  notion,  but 
I've  an  '  idea '  I  could  improve  upon  it." 

"  I  should  like  to  know  whether  there  is  any  one  thing 
in  the  world  which  you  couldn't  improve  upon,"  said  Mr. 
Sumner,  testily;  to  which  John  modestly  replied,  "Well, 
I  don't  think  there  are  a  great  many." 

"  We're  open  to  a  hint,"  said  Mr.  Ray,  good-humoredly. 

'  Well,  if  you  could  make  him  jointed,  so  that  he  could 
move  his  limbs,  and  sit  down  or  stand  up,"  said  John,  who 
had  never  even  seen  anything  of  the  kind  before,  and  did 
not  know  all  its  capabilities. 

"  Oh !  it  will  do  all  that,"  said  Mr.  Ray ;  and  he  made 
the  model  extend  its  arms,  sit  down  and  stand  up  again, 
and  take  several  attitudes,  which,  compared  with  Simon's 
stiff  immovable  figure,  were  perfectly  absurd.  John  open- 
ed his  eyes,  and  said  solemnly,  "It's  a  wonderful  thing!" 

"  Pooh ! "  said  Ted,  in  his  loftiest  manner ;  "  it's  only  a 
great  Dutch  doll !  " 

"You  don't  see  its  capabilities — you  don't  see  what 
may  be  made  of  it ! "  said  John,  enthusiastically.  "  Only 
apply  the  motive  power  to  that — steam — electricity — let 
it  be  what  you  will,  but  you  make  a  live  man  of  it  at  once 
— a  live  man  who  can  dig  and  plough,  and  make  bricks  I 
shouldn't  wonder,  and  build  houses,  break  stones,  saw 
wood,  anything  but  eat ! " 

Then  Simon  Stone  opened  his  mouth,  which  he  always 
did  as  stiffly  as  if  it  were  pulled  by  a  wire,  and  said,  with- 
out raising  his  eyes  or  looking  at  anybody  in  particular : 


248  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

"Hey,  I  alles  thout  poor  folks  'ud  be  better  wi'out  stum« 
micks — t'aint  half  their  time  they  gets  nigh  enow  to  fill  'em 
with." 

It  was  as  new  a  thing  for  Simon  Stone  to  talk  as  it  was 
for  John  Ashdell  to  keep  silence.  People  would  hardly 
have  been  more  surprised  if  the  model  had  opened  its 
mouth.  John,  however,  was  too  much  interested  with  his 
new  "  idea  "  to  take  much  notice  of  him,  and  as  Simon  re- 
lapsed into  his  customary  rigidity — which,  if  anything,  was 
a  little  stiffer  than  the  model's — went  on  : 

"  Look  at  the  saving  in  labor !  look  at  the  endless  both- 
er and  worry  you  get  rid  of !  Always  a  man  by  you  that 
you  can  set  to  do  anything  you  like,  and  when  you've  done 
with  him  just  give  him  a  rub  down,  and  put  away.  I  never 
knew  anything  like  it !  I  only  wonder  people  didn't  think 
of  it  a  thousand  years  ago  ;  but  I  suppose  they'd  no  idea  of 
the  right  motive  power — the  proper  impetus  required.  I 
don't  myself  see  quite  clearly  what  that  should  be,  but  I 
know  it  can  be  done  ;  only  let  me  have  a  little  time  to  think, 
and  I'll  master  it." 

"  I've  no  doubt  you  will,"  said  Mr.  Sumner,  "  and  every- 
thing else  that  you  can  think  of.  Don't  you  think  you'd 
better  come  away  now.  I  fancy  you've  astonished  these 
young  ladies  and  Mr.  Ray  quite  enough." 

John  looked  around  him  compassionately,  as  he  always 
did  upon  people  who  were  not  able  to  appreciate  his  ideas, 
and  he  began  to  think  his  great-uncle  Sumner  was  likely 
to  be  as  unpleasant  as  his  uncle,  George  Ashdell,  in  Stud- 


JOHN   MEETS    AN    OLD    FRIEND.         24Q 

leigh  ;  but  he  went  away,  bidding  every  one  present  good 
afternoon  with  his  usual  politeness,  and  as  he  left  the  school, 
Mrs.  Bligh  sunk  on  a  chair,  with  her  round,  good-humored 
face  crimson  with  the  laughter  she  had  been  keeping  down, 
almost  shrieking  out,  "  That  boy  will  be  the  death  of  me, 
if  he  comes  here,  Mr.  Ray;  the  place  will  be  hardly  safe 
with  him  in  it." 

Mr.  Ray  laughed.  "  I  don't  think  it's  quite  as  bad  as 
that;"  and  the  young  ladies  begged  Mrs.  Bligh  to  inform 
them  of  any  fresh  ideas  that  the  new  pupil  might  have. 
They  were  so  impressed  by  them,  that  nothing  would  have 
pleased  them  better  than  for  John  to  have  attended  the 
school  at  the  same  time  as  they  did,  in  which  case  there 
would  not  have  been  much  work  done ;  while  Simon  Stone, 
who  thought  himself  very  much  aggrieved,  and  looked 
upon  John  already  as  something  worse  than  an  incendiary, 
opened  his  mouth  again  to  say,  "  The  school  'ud  be  a  sight 
better  wi'out  su«  h  as  he — wantin'  to  starve  poor  folk,  an' 
make  wood  an'  hon  do  the  work  that  flesh  and  blood  was 
sent  into  the  world  for." 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

,OHN  WALKS  OVER  TO  FELLROW,  AND  UNFOLDS  HIS  LAS1 
"IDEA"  TO  TED. 

T  THINK  you've  astonished  the  natives  in  there,"  said 
A  Ted  to  John,  when  they  had  left  the  school. 

"  I  shall  astonish  them  a  deal  more  before  I've  done 
with  them,"  said  John.  "  That  idea  of  mine's  a  first-rate 
one.  I  lay  I'll  make  my  fortune  by  it  some  day.  Only 
give  me  time  to  carry  it  out  in  a  proper  manner.  But  I 
ain't  quite  clear  as  to  the  right  motive  power.  I  shall  want 
to  think  about  that  a  little." 

"  I  must  leave  you  for  a  little  time,"  said  Mr.  Sumner, 
presently.  "  I  have  a  couple  of  patients  I  must  see  this  af- 
ternoon. I  wonder  whether  you'll  be  safe  to  find  your  way 
home  without  any  misadventure,"  he  added,  looking  doubt- 
fully at  John. 

"  No,  uncle,"  said  he,  "  don't  be  afraid  ;  I  could  clear  it 
in  three  skips  and  a  jump.  It's  not  like  London — I  had  an 
'  idea '  the  last  time  I  was  there,  that  if  the  streets  were 
only  rearranged  and  fresh  named  after  a  notion  of  mine,  it 
would  be  much  easier  for  people  to  find  their  way  about 
than  it  is  now." 


JOHN    WALKS    TO   FELLROW.  251 

"  I'd  write  to  the  Board  of  Works,  if  I  were  you,"  said 
his  uncle ;  "  but,  however,  I  hope  while  you're  thinking  of 
the  fine  things  you  can  do  in  London  you  won't  lose  your 
way  in  our  little  town.  I  think  you  had  better  go  back  now 
and  rest.  I  shall  be  in  to  tea,  and  Knaggs  will  give  you  a 
book  or  two  to  look  at  if  you  want  it." 

"  All  right,  sir,"  said  John  ;  "  Ted  and  I  never  want  any 
books  when  we've  got  one  another." 

"  Well,  I  don't  suppose  you  do,"  said  his  uncle,  looking 
curiously  at  him,  and  then  he  went  his  way,  and  the  boys 
theirs. 

"  It's  a  first-rate  idea,"  said  John,  who  was  full  of  it,  as 
he  always  was  of  everything  fresh.  "  Just  look  what  a  deal 
of  good  you  may  do  it  by  it,  if  only  properly  carried  out. 
All  the  nasty,  dirty,  disagreeable  work  of  this  world  done 
by  man-machines  instead  of  man ;  all  the  going  down  in 
mines  and  the  working  in  pits,  the  drudging  and  delving  in 
hail,  rain,  and  snow  taken  from  men  who  can  feel,  and  done 
by  men  who  can't.  It's  the  best  notion  I've  ever  had,  and 
I've  had  a  few  in  my  time." 

"  Yes,  you  have,  and  every  one  has  been  the  best." 

"  Never  mind,  I  was  working  my  way  to  better  things. 
There  is  something  like  that  in  some  verses  I've  read, 
about  folks  rising  on  stepping-stones,  I  think  it  was, 

"'Of  their  dead  selves  to  higher  things.' 

I  don't  know  who  wrote  them.     Was  it  Shakspeare  or  Tom 
Hood  ? " 


252  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

"  Tennyson,"  said  Ted,  who  was  better  up  in  the  poets 
than  John. 

"Ah,  well,  they  just  suit  me,  my  past  little  mistakes 
were  my  stepping-stones ;  'dead  selves,'  you  know,  that  I've 
done  with  now  ;  and  I'm  going  to  do  better  things.  This 
machine-man,  if  I  can  only  find  the  right  motive  force,  will 
be  one  of  them !  If  I  succeed  in  it,  I  shall  be  satisfied  if 
it's  the  only  one.     I  think  I  shall  have  done  enough  then." 

"  I  think  you  will,"  said  Ted. 

"  Now,  don't  you  go  throwing  cold  water  upon  it,"  said 
John,  who  didn't  quite  like  Ted's  tone.  "That's  the  worst 
of  being  an  inventor,  and  before  one's  time ;  commonplace 
people — at  least,  I  don't  mean  to  say  you're  commonplace, 
Ted,  for  you're  rather  a  clever  fellow  in  your  way — but 
still,  those  that  are  commonplace  can't  understand  me, 
and  it's  very  disheartening,  if  one's  ever  so  full  of  faith 
in  one's  self.  But  it  was  always  the  way;  just  look  at 
Galileo—" 

"  Well,  he  didn't  try  to  harness  a  pig." 

"Would  if  he'd  thought  of  it,  I  dare  say,  but  it  didn't 
occur  to  him ;  and  Columbus,  poor  fellow — " 

"  He  didn't  want  to  fatten  a  calf  upon  sawdust." 

"  And  that  man  that  discovered  the  circulation  of  the 
blood ;  I  forget  his  name — " 

"I  should  say  you  made  a  good  many  people's  circu- 
late pretty  quickly  when  you  turned  a  bear  out  loose  on 
Studleigh  Heath,"  said  Ted. 

John's  pleasant,  good-humored  face  became  overcast 


JOHN    WALKS    TO   FELLROW.  253 

It  was  not  often  that  he  was  angry,  but  he  really  was  so 
now.  "Just  you  shut  up,  Ted!"  he  said  shortly;  "we 
don't  want  a  row,  but  I'm  not  going  to  stand  any  more  of 
that  chaff.  I  don't  do  that  sort  of  thing  with  you,  and  you 
wouldn't  like  it  yourself  if  you  were  me." 

Ted  was  very  sorry  he  had  vexed  John.  He  was  so 
good-tempered  and  good-hearted,  that  it  really  seemed  a 
pity  to  do  so,  and,  without  teasing  him  any  more,  he  fol- 
lowed him  into  Mr.  Sumner's  shop.  Knaggs  had  left  it  for 
a  minute,  and  John  was  glad  of  an  opportunity  of  looking 
round  without  the  chance  of  his  interference.  He  opened 
one  or  two  jars  and  peeped  in,  he  looked  at  the  different 
pots  and  boxes  on  the  counter,  and  at  last,  espying  the  gal- 
vanic machine,  cried  with  sudden  exultation,  "I've  got  it!" 

"  Got  what  ? "  said  Ted.     "  What's  up  now  ? " 

"  The  motive  force  that's  to  set  the  machine  at  work 
and  turn  him  into  a  man !  Here  you  are :  this  galvanic 
battery  will  do  it.  Just  apply  that,  set  him  going,  up  goes 
his  arm,  down  comes  his  spade,  and  there  you  are ! " 

"  That  won't  do  it,"  said  Ted.  "  A  little  steam-engine's 
the  thing  you  want.  It's  no  good  just  giving  the  dummy 
a  shock  and  have  done  with  it ;  what  you  want  is  to  keep 
him  going,  and  if  you  keep  giving  him  a  succession  of 
shocks,  it  seems  to  me  you  may  just  as  well  do  the  work 
yourself,  as  keep  turning  the  handle  of  this  thing." 

"There  it  is;  that's  what  I  want  to  find  out;  how 
to  keep  giving  a  succession  of  shocks  without  the  trouble 
of  turning:  the  handle  of  the  machine.     I  know  it  can  be 


254  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

done,  but  of  course  one's  got  to  find  out  how.  That'll 
require  time  and  thought.  Never  mind ;  Rome  wasn't 
built  in  a  day.  I  shall  do  nothing  but  study  this  point 
as  long  as  I'm  here." 

"  How  about  your  lesson  ?  "  said  Ted.  "  I  thought  you 
were  to  work  up  your  Latin  while  you  are  at  the  Gram- 
mar-school." 

"  Bother  the  Latin  !  What's  that  compared  to  such  a 
discovery  as  I'm  on  the  point  of  making?  I  suppose  I 
must  go  to  that  precious  school,  but  it'll  only  be  a  waste 
of  time.  Much  good  I  shall  do  there  with  my  head  full  of 
this." 

"  As  far  as  that  goes,  I  don't  see  that  you  will  lose 
much ;  I  have  no  great  faith  in  these  country  schools  my- 
self," said  Ted,  superciliously.  He  could  never  forget  the 
fact  that  he  himself  was  a  pupil  of  the  South  Middlesex 
University. 

Knaggs  came  into  the  shop  now,  and  looked  angrily  at 
John,  who  stood  by  the  machine.  "  I  should  have  thought 
you  had  had  enough  of  that,"  he  said ;  "  perhaps,  though, 
you'd  like  the  dose  you  had,  repeated." 

John  moved  away,  without  condescending  to  answei 
him ;  and  Ted  and  he  went  into  the  parlor,  which,  though 
it  was  behind  the  shop,  was  as  pleasant  and  pretty 
a  room  as  any  in  the  town,  looking  upon  a  bright  little 
garden,  which  was  always  kept  in  capital  order.  They  sat 
down  by  the  window,  at  which  the  roses  came  creeping  in, 
and  John  went  on  : 


JOHN    WALKS    TO   FELLROW.  255 

"  That  fellow's  a  nuisance.  If  he  was  only  out  of  the. 
way,  so  that  I  could  get  hold  of  the  thing  and  see  how  it 
worked,  I  should  do.  I  don't  want  to  go  buying  one, — 
I  expect  they're  expensive, — and  that  Knaggs  seems  set 
upon  it  that  I  sha'n't  get  hold  of  my  uncle's.  He's  a  spite 
against  me,  that's  it ; — chaps  like  him  always  have  against 
those  that  are  cleverer  than  themselves.  Never  mind,  I'll 
do  him !  see  if  I  don't,  before  long." 

"  But  I  can't  see  what's  the  good  if  you  do  do  him," 
said  Ted.  "It  isn't  a  steam-engine, — that's  what  you 
want,  you  know." 

"  No,  I  don't ;  let  me  alone,  Ted ;  I  know  what  I'm 
about.  Electricity  is  the  motive  power  I  require.  I  don't 
believe  people  half  know  what  there  is  in  electricity,  my- 
self. They  think  all  it's  good  for  is  just  to  play  tricks  with 
and  make  a  chap  ready  to  jump  out  of  his  skin,  just  as  that 
Knaggs  served  me, — mean  skunk!  It's  so  great  that  one 
can  do  more  with  it  than  one  can  with  steam,  I'm  con- 
vinced, and  you'll  see,  by-and-by,  when  I've  time  to  think 
matters  over,  and  work  them  out,  whether  I'm  not  in  the 
right  of  it." 

Ted  half  believed  in  John,  who  believed  so  fully  in  him- 
self; and  they  sat  and  talked  together  a  little  longer,  till 
Mr.  Sumner  came  home,  and  they  had  tea ;  after  which 
Ted  said  it  was  time  for  him  to  go,  as  his  father  and 
mother  would  have  returned  from  Fellrow,  and  be  wonder- 
ing what  had  become  of  him. 

"  I  shall  write  to  ycu  as  soon  as  I  get  there,  old  fellow," 


256  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

he  said;  "and  do  come  over  and  see  me  ;  and  we'll  have 
a  bathe  and  a  row,  and  be  as  jolly  as  mud-larks." 

"  And  I'll  tell  you  how  I  get  on  with  my  new  schemes," 
said  John,  in  a  whisper,  "  if  I  can  only  cheat  that  fellow 
Knaggs;"  and  Knaggs  not  happening  to  look  that  way, 
John  shook  his  fist  at  him,  which  was  a  great  relief  to  his 
feelings. 

"  All  right,"  said  Ted  ;  "  tell  me  all  you  can  about  it." 
Then  he  took  leave  of  Mr.  Sumner  and  Knaggs,  and 
went  his  way,  and  the  next  morning  the  omnibus  carried 
him  and  his  father  and  mother  to  Fellrow. 

John  had  two  or  three  days  more  of  idleness,  with  the 
exception  of  one  attendance  at  the  School  of  Art,  and 
during  that  time  he  took  every  opportunity  to  learn  what 
he  could  of  the  galvanic  machine.  He  also  asked  Mrs. 
Bligh  to  let  him  examine  the  lay  figure,  which  she  did,  and 
was  amply  rewarded  by  the  many  improvements  John 
suggested  in  it,  merely  for  artistic  purposes.  He  got  on 
pretty  well  with  his  drawing,  being  really,  in  spite  of  all 
his  nonsense,  a  clever  boy;  and  then,  he  went  to  the 
Grammar-school.  Here  he  did  not  do  so  well  as  at  the 
School  of  Art.  There  was  no  Mrs.  Bligh  to  humor  him  ; 
and,  although  he  abstained  from  favoring  the  masters  with 
any  observations  as  to  the  improvements  he  thought  they 
might  make  in  the  school  routine,  the  boys  whom  he 
honored  with  his  opinions  upon  that  and  various  other 
matters  teased  him  unmercifully.  He  set  this  all  down  to 
their  country  ignorance  ;  he  certainly  had  lived  in  a  village 


JOHN    WALKS    TO    FELLROW.  257 

nearly  all  his  life,  but  then  it  was  a  village  much  nearer 
London  than  Woodhurst,  and  he  had  made  so  many  journeys 
to  the  great  metropolis  that,  compared  to  the  Woodhurst 
boys,  he  almost  felt  as  if  he  were  a  denizen  of  it.  He  got 
1  few  cuffs  and  kicks.  The  Woodhurst  boys  were  not  a 
bit  better  than  boys  in  general,  and  I  am  sorry  to  say  they 
were  very  ready  to  find  an  excuse  to  jostle  and  ill-treat  the 
new-comer.  However,  John  was  pretty  well  able  to  hold 
his  own,  his  hearty  country  training  stood  him  in  good 
stead,  and  good-tempered  as  he  was,  the  boys  after  a  time 
found  it  was  safest  not  to  go  too  far  with  him.  And  he, 
finding  himself  so  little  appreciated,  took  refuge  in  a  sullen 
dignity,  keeping  aloof  from  his  schoolfellows,  and  treating 
them  when  they  came  near  him  with  a  contempt  that  was 
grand  to  see. 

Of  course,  he  didn't  get  on  very  well  with  his  Latin, 
that  was  not  to  be  expected  when  his  mind  was  for  ever 
running  upon  the  lay  figure  in  Mr.  Ray's  studio,  and  the 
galvanic  machine,  which  was  to  do  such  wonders  with  it. 
He  could  think  of  nothing  else.  He  applied  himself  to 
his  drawing,  because  it  occurred  to  him  that  in  the  event 
of  any  improvements  or  alterations  in  the  machine,  it 
would  be  much  easier  to  have  them  effected  if  he  could 
clearly  show  upon  paper  what  he  wanted,  than  merely 
write  it  down  or  tell  it ;  but  as  to  his  lessons,  he  got  on  so 
slowly  that  the  masters,  who,  of  course,  knew  nothing  of 
his  real  capacity,  set  him  down  as  the  dullest  boy  in  the 
school.  I  don't  know  what  they  would  have  thought  of 
17 


258  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

him  if  they  had  only  known  one  half  that  was  passing 
through  his  head  all  the  time  he  was  poring  over  his 
Euclid  or  trying  to  construe  his  Virgil. 

Ted  kept  his  word  about  writing.  Fellrow,  he  said, 
was  very  quiet,  but  a  stunning  place  for  bathing,  lots  of 
crabs,  and  a  capital  beach  ;  when  would  John  come  and  see 
him  ?  John  would  have  liked  to  go  at  once,  but  there  were 
difficulties  in  the  way.  The  head-master  did  not  approve 
of  holidays  being  taken, — he  gave  one  himself  the  first 
Monday  in  every  month ;  and  John's  uncle  said  he  must 
wait  for  that.  John  consoled  himself, — it  would  give  him 
more  time  to  develop  his  ideas,  so  that  he  could  unfold 
them  fully  to  Ted,  and  ask  for  his  assistance  in  carrying 
them  out ;  and  so  he  went  on,  as  I  have  said,  till  Ted  had 
been  three  weeks  at  Fellrow,  when  at  last  he  was  free  to 
walk  over  to  that  quiet  little  watering-place  to  see  him. 

He  got  up  early — he  was  so  anxious  to  see  Ted — he 
had  so  much  to  tell  him.  He  came  down  the  stairs,  and 
went  through  the  shop  without  being  heard  by  Knaggs. 
As  he  opened  the  door,  the  light  fell  on  the  galvanic 
machine,  which  Knaggs  had  placed  on  a  high  shelf  out  of 
reach.  John  looked  at  it  longingly — "  I'll  get  you  down 
some  day — that  precious  dog  in  a  manger  sha'n't  keep  you 
from  me  for  ever." 

Then  he  went  on  his  way  through  the  little  town,  which 
was  waking  up  to  life  and  getting  ready  for  its  day's 
work,  and  out  into  the  quiet  country  road  which  led  to 
Fellrow.     He  had  had  no  breakfast,  but  the  blackberries 


JOHN    WALKS    TO    FELLROW.  259 

were  ripening  on  the  hedges,  and  now  and  then  he  stopr. ted 
and  gathered  them.  He  saw,  as  he  walked  on,  the  farm 
men  going  to  their  labor,  looking,  so  many  of  them,  bent 
with  toil,  and  aged  and  furrowed  before  their  time,  and  he 
felt  full  of  a  new  pity  for  them.  He  was  a  good  boy,  after 
all,  though  a  foolish  one.  I  think  if  there  had  not  been  some 
real  sound  sterling  goodness  underlying  all  John's  Ashdell's 
absurdities,  people  would  never  have  liked  him  as  they  did. 
"  My  machine  will  do  something  for  these  poor  fellows," 
he  said.  "  When  that  comes  out,  there'll  be  no  working 
twelve  hours  a-day  for  a  couple  of  shillings.  That'll  do  all 
the  rough,  dirty,  hard  work  there  is  to  do,  and  leave  them 
only  to  guide  it,  and  look  on,  if  they  like,  with  their  hands 
in  their  pockets." 

John  didn't  ask  himself  what  was  to  become  of  all  the 
surplus  laborers  whom  his  machine  would  drive  out  of  the 
field,  or  think  that  a  farmer  would  scarcely  care  to  pay 
them  just  to  stand  and  look  on  with  their  hands  in  their 
pockets ; — such  considerations  would  have  been  beyond 
him,  but  he  went  on  all  the  more  cheerfully  for  the  thought 
that  had  just  occurred  to  him,  and  when  he  was  about 
half-way  to  Fellrow,  he  saw  Ted,  who  had  come  out  to 
meet  him. 

He  was  sauntering  along  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets, 
looking  just  as  dandified  and  supercilious  as  ever, — a  little 
browner,  and  with  clothes  a  little  shabbier,  for  the  sea-side 
does  wear  out  things  terribly,  but  still  just  his  clever,  lan« 
guid,  gentlemanly  self. 


26o  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

"What  a  swell  he  always  does  look!"  said JohL  to  him 
self;  "but,  dear  me,  if  my  machine  answers,  everybody 
will  be  a  swell  too.  I  do  wonder  it's  never  been  tried — tc 
think  of  man,  that  calls  himself  the  lord  of  the  creation, 
drudging  and  delving  as  he's  done,  when  all  the  time  he 
might  get  a  wooden  dummy  to  do  it  for  him ! " 

Ted  was  very  glad  to  see  John,  and  showed  it  as  much 
as  he  ever  showed  any  emotion.  "  It's  a  treat  to  have 
some  one  to  talk  to,"  he  said,  in  his  grand  way.  "  I  don't 
think  much  of  the  people  at  Fellrow — how  are  you  getting 
on  with  the  natives  at  Woodhurst  ? " 

"  Pretty  well,"  said  John.     "  I  don't  like  the  school — " 

"  Pack  of  cads,  I  suppose,"  said  Ted  ;  "  country  fellows 
always  are.  I  should  say  you'd  learn  Latin  with  a  strong, 
Eastshire  dialect.  One  of  our  masters  at  the  South  Mid 
dlesex  would  have  it  we  ought  to  sound  it  as  the  Italians 
did.  I  didn't  agree  with  him  myself.  I  like  the  English 
accent  best,  but  I  don't  think  I  should  like  the  Wood- 
hurst brogue.  You'll  pick  it  up  to  a  certainty,  if  you  don't 
mind,  Ashdell." 

"Oh  !  I  haven't  bothered  my  head  much  about  Latin," 
said  John  ;  "  it's  precious  little  of  that  I  shall  pick  up  one 
way  or  another.  I've  been  thinking  ever  since  you  left  me 
of  that 'idea' of  mine.  What  shall  I  call  it? — I  know 
there's  a  name  for  any  new  invention  that's  to  do  wonderful 
things,  and  is  something  quite  fresh  and  original.  Let's  see 
— is  not  it  Hegira  ?  " 

"  Eureka,  you  mean,"  said  Ted.  "  Ah  !  I  thought  you'd 


JOHN    WALKS    TO    FELLROW.  261 

have  had  some  fresh  notion  by  this  time.     Well,  let's  hear 
how  you're  getting  on  with  it." 

"  Well,  I'm  not  getting  on  with  it  at  all,  beyond  think- 
ing matters  over.  But  I  see  my  way  now,  if  I  can  only  get 
hold  of  that  machine  ;  and  I  shall  want  you  to  help  me, 
Ted,  when  I  do.  I've  settled  everything;  I've  altered 
some  of  my  notions  from  what  they  were  just  at  first.  You 
see  I'm  not  above  taking  a  hint  or  two  from  any  one,  and 
I  feel  that  I  can't  get  the  full  motive  power  I  want  with- 
out steam.  Not  steam  altogether,  but  a  combination  of 
steam  and  electricity.  Now  the  first  thing  is  to  get  the 
steam-engine ; — it's  a  pity  I  spoiled  the  one  my  uncle  gave 
me." 

"  Yes,  it  is,"  said  Ted  ;  "  a  new  one  will  cost  a  good- 
ish  bit." 

"  Well,  yes,  a  new  one  would  take  a  sight  of  tin,  but 
I'm  going  to  do  it  on  the  cheap.  There's  a  fellow  in  our 
school's  got  a  second-hand  one ;  it's  little,  but  a  good  one 
to  go,  and  it's  quite  big  enough  to  make  an  experiment 
with.  Of  course,  I  must  experiment  on  a  small  scale  ; — 
that  galvanic  machine  of  my  uncle's  will  be  nothing,  you 
know,  when  I  come  to  carry  things  out ;  but  that  and  the 
little  steam-engine  will  do  very  well  to  begin  with.  Well, 
I'm  going  to  buy  this  engine  of  Pratt ;  I  have  been  saving 
up  my  money  ever  since  I  have  been  down  ;  Pratt's  going 
to  let  me  have  it  for  five  shillings  and  a  peck  of  apples 
Uncle  gives  me  apples  every  day  after  dinner,  and  I  put 
them  in  my  dirty-clothes'  bag  to    save  for  him.     They're 


262  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

not  a  keeping  sort,  and  some  of  them  are  going  to  squash, 
but  I  don't  see  that  Pratt's  any  business  to  mind  that.  A 
peck's  a  peck,  you  know,  if  you  only  get  it  full.  Well,  I 
get  the  steam-engine ;  I  connect  it  with  the  galvanic 
battery;  I  place  my  wooden  model  under  the  joint  in- 
fluence of  both  ;  when  it  begins  to  act — of  course  not 
regularly  or  usefully  at  first,  but  still  it  does  act.  There's 
that  great  point  settled,  and  I  only  want  time  and  ample 
materials  which  of  course  my  uncle  or  anybody — say  the 
public  in  general — the  Mayor  of  the  town,  they  say  he's  a 
brick  and  got  lots  of  tin, — or  the  Government,  but  I  don't 
think  Government  is  ever  liberal  to  inventors  ;  but  anyhow, 
somebody  or  other  is  sure  to  come  forward  and  help  us, 
when  once  the  thing's  known,  to  make  our  fortunes,  and 
immortalize  ourselves.  No,  Ted,  when  you  and  I  are 
gone,  they'll  put  us  in  a  Biographical  Dictionary  and 
Westminster  Abbey ! " 

"Me!"  said  Ted;  "what  have  I  got  to  do  with 
it?" 

"  Oh,  but  you  will  have,  you  know ;  if  you  are  going  to 
help  me,  and  of  course  you  are,  I  shall  let  you  go  shares 
with  me.  The  thing  is,  can  you  come  over  for  a  day  and 
night  to  Woodhurst  ?  I  must  try  my  experiment  at  night, 
when  every  one's  out  of  the  way,  you  see ;  perhaps  Mr.  Ray 
wouldn't  mind,  but  then  people  are  sure  to  interfere  and 
make  remarks.  I  did  think  at  one  time  Mrs.  Bligh  would 
have  helped  me,  but  the  worst  of  her  is,  you  never  can  tell 
when  she's  in  jest  or  in  earnest;   so  what  is  to  be  done 


JOHN    WALKS    TO    FELLROW.  263 

had  better  be  done  between  only  you  and  me,  then  we 
shall  have  all  the  glory  and  all  the  profit." 

"  All  right,"  said  Ted,  "if  I  can  get  over  I  will ;  but  if 
that  Knaggs  keeps  his  eye  so  on  the  machine,  how  will 
you  get  hold  of  that  ? " 

Knaggs  is  going  to  have  a  half-holiday  next  Wednes- 
day week, — a  half-holiday,  and  sleep  out,  and  come  home 
by  the  early  train  in  the  morning.  He's  going  to  see  his 
grandmother,  who  lives  ten  miles  off,  and  he's  to  get  all 
his  stuff — pills,  and  powders,  and  the  whole — made  up  be- 
fore he  goes,  and  I'm  to  mind  shop  in  the  afternoon." 

"It's  to  be  hoped  nobody  will  be  coming  to  you  to 
make  up  pills  or  powders,"  said  Ted,  "or  there'll  be  a  cor- 
oner's inquest." 

"  There  you  go,  Ted !  Now  I  didn't  expect  that  of  you. 
I  don't  think  it's  right  by  a  friend  who's  going  to  do  the 
handsome  by  you,  and  let  you  go  shares  with  him  in  his 
new  invention.  That's  the  worst  of  you,  Ted;  you're  a 
clever  fellow,  but  you  never  seem  to  think  that  anybody's 
got  any  brains  but  yourself." 

"  Oh !  you've  got  brains,"  said  Ted ;  "  I  never  disputed 
that,  only  the  worst  of  it  is,  you  don't  always  know  how  to 
make  good  use  of  them.  However,  let's  hear  what  you're 
going  to  dc  when  Knaggs  has  his  half-holiday.  Do  you 
want  me  to  come  and  help  you  to  mind  shop?" 

"Yes,  I  asked  my  uncle  if  you  might,  and  he  said  yes. 
Knaggs  don't  like  my  being  there  at  all.  That  fellow's  got 
a  regular  spite  against  me.     I  think  that  if  it  wasn't  that 


264  THE    B0Y    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

uncle  told  him  that  he  ought  to  go  and  see  the  old  lady 
he'd  rather  lose  his  holiday  than  I  should  be  in  that  shop 
Uncle  don't  seem  to  mind  him.  He  says  there's  nothing  I 
can  do  much  harm  with  unless  I  try  experiments  on  myself, 
and  if  I  like  to  see  how  jalap  and  rhubarb  go  together  with 
a  dose  of  asafoetida  for  flavoring,  I'm  welcome ;  anyhow,  he 
says  it's  hard  if  I  cannot  serve  a  pena'orth  of  castor-oil  or 
a  packet  of  violet  powder  without  making  a  mess  of  it. 
I've  been  enough  in  the  shop  to  learn  as  much  as  that ;  so 
Knaggs  is  to  have  his  holiday,  and  I  wish  him  joy  of  it ! 
Then  you  come  over  in  the  morning,  and  after  dinner  we 
shall  have  a  quiet  time  of  it  to  ourselves.  Uncle  will  be 
in  and  out,  or  in  the  back-parlor  reading,  but  that  won't 
matter, — Knaggs  will  be  out  of  the  way,  and  there's  one 
comfort,  he  can  neither  lock  up  the  galvanic  battery  nor 
take  it  with  him." 

"  And  how  will  you  get  it  to  the  school,  and  do  all  the 
rest  of  it  ? "  asked  Ted. 

"  I'll  tell  you  all  about  that  by-and-by.  Is  not  this  Fell- 
row  just  before  us?  Let's  talk  of  something  else  now, 
and  when  we've  had  some  breakfast,  we'll  look  out  for  a 
nice  place  on  the  beach,  where  there's  nobody  within  hear- 
ing, or  at  any  rate  where  we  can  see  them  if  they  come  too 
near,  and  then  I'll  tell  you  what  I  think  about  doing." 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

JOHN    MATURES    HIS    SCHEME.      HOW    THE    COAL-HOLE    HAS 
A    COOLING    EFFECT    UPON    TED. 

JOHN  had  a  nice  day  of  it  at  Fellrow.  He  bathed, 
threw  stones  in  the  water,  saw  what  little — and  it  was 
very  little — there  was  to  be  seen  in  the  place,  sauntered  on 
the  beach,  climbed  up  the  rocks  in  the  distance,  then 
came  down  and  saw  the  people  picking  up  coprolites  for 
manure.  Of  course  he  had  something  to  say  about  this, 
and  made  more  than  one  of  the  ragged  boys  who  heard 
him  open  their  eyes  at  the  extent  of  his  knowledge  and  the 
long  words  he  used ;  and,  above  all,  he  told  Ted  how  he 
meant  to  carry  out  his  experiment  on  the  eventful  night 
when  Knaggs  would  be  absent  from  Woodhurst.  As  this 
will  be  unfolded  in  due  course,  there  is  no  occasion  to 
dwell  upon  it  here ;  it  is  enough  to  say  that  Ted  agreed  to 
do  what  he  could  to  help  on  the  plan,  and  that  his  parents 
gave  him  permission  to  pay  John  a  visit  on  the  Wednesday 
week,  and  spend  the  night  in  Woodhurst.  Ted  was  very 
ready  to  go.  He  had  not  much  faith  in  John  succeeding 
in  the  experiment,  or  that  he  should  ever  make  his  fortune, 


266  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

or  win  a  place  in  Westminster  Abbey  at  his  death  by 
helping  him ;  but  he  thought  it  would  be  a  spree,  and 
Fellrow  was  just  dull  enough  to  make  him  feel  quite 
ready  for  anything  of  the  kind. 

John  rode  home  on  the  top  of  the  omnibus.  He  would 
have  walked  to  Woodhurst  as  well  as  from  it,  if  he  could 
have  had  his  own  way,  for  he  was  anxious  to  save  all  the 
money  he  could  for  his  great  experiment ;  but  his  uncle 
would  not  hear  of  this,  and  had  given  him  a  shilling  for  the 
purpose.  There  was  only  room  on  the  roof,  but  that 
suited  John  all  the  better.  He  could  look  about  him, 
and  talk  to  the  coachman,  which  he  did,  giving  that 
worthy  several  hints  as  to  the  best  mode  of  handling  the 
reins  and  feeding  his  horses.  He  was  thoroughly  tired  out 
by  the  time  they  got  to  Woodhurst,  and  glad  to  get  to  bed 
at  once  ;  and  the  next  morning  he  awoke  all  the  better  for 
his  breath  of  sea  air,  and  in  excellent  spirits  at  the  idea  of 
his  promised  assistance. 

He  thought  the  time  would  never  come  to  an  end, 
between  that  day  and  Wednesday-week.  At  first  he 
thought  of  counting  the  hours  and  notching  them  on  a 
stick,  that  he  might  see  how  many  he  had  got  through  ; 
but  contented  himself  with  tying  a  handkerchief  into 
knots,  and  undoing  one  on  the  morning  of  every  inter- 
vening day.  He  had  plenty  to  do  in  the  mean  time — a 
great  deal  too  much,  to  think  of  his  Latin  or  his  other 
scholastic  duties.  He  went  to  the  School  of  Art  three 
times  a  week.     Mr.  Ray  was  always  there,  so  was  Mrs, 


JOHN  MATURES    HIS    SCHEME.  267 

Bligh  ;  but  after  the  first,  that  lady  refused  to  let  him 
have  anything  to  do  with  the  lay  figure — "You'll  be 
making  it  go  upon  wheels,  or  jerk  it  with  strings,"  she 
said  ;  "  and  we're  quite  content  with  it  as  it  is." 

The  figure  still  wore  Simon's  dress.  Mr.  Ray  was 
anxious  to  make  a  finished  full-length  likeness  of  the  old 
man,  and  the  school  taking  up  so  much  of  his  time,  he  did 
not  make  very  rapid  progress  with  the  painting.  So  the 
basket  and  spade  still  remained,  and  the  figure  itself 
looked  exactly  as  it  did  the  first  time  John  saw  it. 

Simon  himself  was  frequently  about  the  school  now, 
though  just  at  present  not  required  as  a  model.  Mrs. 
Knight  was  in  the  habit  of  employing  a  girl  to  do  the 
drudgery  of  the  school-room  under  her  directions,  and  the 
last  girl  having  been  worse  than  any  of  her  predecessors — 
and,  according  to  Mrs.  Knight,  they  had  all  been  bad 
enough — Mrs.  Bligh,  who  knew  Simon  was  in  need  of 
work,  suggested  that  he  might  sweep  out  the  rooms  and 
clean  the  windows  in  his  spare  time,  till  a  suitable  damsel 
could  be  found.  Mrs.  Knight  engaged  him  for  the  pur- 
pose, and,  accordingly,  Simon's  tall,  gaunt  figure,  looking 
exactly  like  the  one  in  the  studio  come  to  life,  was  to  be 
seen  pretty  often  by  the  students.  He  never  spoke  to  any 
of  them — hardly  ever  to  Mrs.  Knight.  He  brightened  up 
a  little  when  Mrs.  Bligh  bade  him  good-morning  or  good- 
night, and  uttered  some  sounds  from  the  depths  of  his 
throat,  that  might  be  supposed  to  be  in  answer.  But 
John  always  thought  that  when  he  had  made  his  modei 


268  THE    BOY    WITH   AN   IDEA. 

move,  and  go  about  the  different  avocations  that  Simon 
now  performed,  it  could  scarcely  do  them  more  like  clock- 
work than  Simon  himself  did.  He  hardly  went  to  the 
school  to  draw  at  these  last  few  lessons,  though  he  sat 
with  a  pencil  in  his  hand  and  his  paper  before  him.  He 
was  absorbed  in  calculations  and  plans,  and  intently  em- 
ployed in  taking  note  of  everything  around  him,  with  a 
view  to  the  carrying  out  of  his  experiment  on  that  eventful 
day,  which  seemed  as  if  it  would  never  come. 

It  did  come  at  last,  though,  and  Ted  with  it  early 
in  the  morning.  He  had  followed  John's  example,  and 
walked  over;  he  would  have  preferred  riding,  but  the  om- 
nibus did  not  leave  Fellrow  for  Woodhurst  till  ten  o'clock, 
and  Ted  was  impatient  to  hear  how  John  was  going 
on.  Therefore,  after  an  early  breakfast  (Ted  couldn't  get 
up  in  time  to  start  without  his,  as  John  had  done),  he  had 
started  off,  and  a  little  after  eleven  was  in  Mr.  Sumner's 
shop,  asking  Knaggs — who  was  diligently  pounding  away 
— where  Ashdell  was. 

"Not  home  from  school  yet,"  was  the  answer;  "and  as 
likely  as  not,  won't  be  till  one.  He's  been  kept  in  every 
other  day  regular,  lately,"  he  added,  with  a  delight  that 
struck  Ted  as  almost  vicious.  "You  can  go  in  the  parlor 
and  rest,  if  you  like,  and  there's  the  Eastshirc  Mercury 
to  look  at." 

"  I  don't  care  for  a  country  paper,"  said  Ted,  loftily ; 
"haven't  you  got  the  Times?" 

Knaggs   said  "  No,"  and  went  on   with  his  pounding 


yOHN  MATURES   HIS    SCHEME.  269 

He  seemed  disinclined  to  talk,  or  Ted  would  liked  to  have 
practised  a  few  of  his  grand  airs  upon  him.  As  there  was 
nothing  else  to  be  done,  he  went  into  the  parlor,  and  tried 
to  get  what  amusement  he  could  from  the  pages  of  the 
Eastshire  Mercury.  But  as  it  was  not  more  interesting  than 
country  papers  generally  are,  and  Ted  had  had  an  unusually 
long  walk,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  he  fell  asleep,  and 
did  not  wake  till  John  came  rushing  in. 

"Here  you  are,  old  fellow!  Had  such  a  narrow  escape 
from  being  kept  in;  precious  glad  I  wasn't,  though,  as 
you're  here.  Has  that  Knaggs  given  you  any  grub?  Of 
course  he  hasn't ;  he  spites  me,  and  spites  my  friends.  What 
will  you  have?  We  dine  at  one  o'clock,  but  won't  you 
have  some  bread  and  cheese,  and  then  come  out  for  a 
turn  ? " 

"  No,  thank  you,"  said  Ted  ;  "  I'm  tired — I  walked,  and 
I  might  just  as  well  have  ridden,  for  I  didn't  think  of  your 
not  being  out  of  school  before  twelve.  Well,  how  are 
things  looking — got  the  steam-engine  ?  " 

"  Hu-u-sh ! "  said  John,  looking  fearfully  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Knaggs.  "  If  he  has  any  idea  what's  up,  he'll  lose 
his  holiday,  if  he  has  to  sham  ill  to  do  it.  Come  in  my 
room,  and  you'll  see." 

He  took  Ted  to  his  own  apartment,  and  unlocking  his 
box,  brought  out  a  small  brass  steam-engine,  of  the  kind 
that  schoolboys  delight  in ;  then  he  set  it  working,  which 
it  did  very  well.  "  I  only  got  it  yesterday,"  he  said, 
"  Pratt  found  fault  with  some  of  the  apples,  but  there  were 


270  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

a  few  over  the  peck,  so  I  gave  him  those  in.  Here's  the 
wire  that's  to  connect  it  with  the  galvanic  battery ;  so  if  1 
can  only  get  hold  of  that,  and  carry  it  to  the  figure,  I  shall 
do.  There's  no  evening  school  to-night,  so  we're  likely  to 
have  the  coast  clear." 

He  had  got  everything  in  readiness — a  dark  lantern, 
which  his  uncle  sometimes  used  when  he  went  out  in  the 
evening,  and  a  coil  of  rope. 

"What  do  you  want  that  for  ? "  said  Ted.  "  This  looks 
uncommonly  like  housebreaking,  you  know.  I  thought 
the  window  we  were  to  get  in  at  was  too  near  the  ground 
for  us  to  need  anything  of  the  kind." 

"  Ah!  that's  the  window  I  first  thought  of,  but  it  won't  do. 
You  see  when  I  came  to  Fellrow  I  had  only  examined  the 
inside  of  the  school ;  since  then  I've  been  able  to  look  round 
the  outside,  and  I  find  we  shouldn't  be  able  to  get  to  any 
of  the  large  windows  without  being  perceived.  Now  there's 
one  at  the  back — a  little  one,  and  we  shall  have  to  squeeze, 
but  we're  neither  of  us  very  stout,  and  I  know  it's  never 
fastened,  and  opens  right  into  the  studio.  Now  we  can 
get  through  that  without  any  one  noticing  us.  Just  below 
is  a  place  that  I  suppose  we  may  call  a  coal-hole,  only  it 
■sn't  a  hole,  just  a  yard  where  the  coals  are  kept.  Well, 
the  wall  of  that  is  not  high,  and  it's  at  the  end  of  a  court 
where  there's  nothing  but  the  blank  walls  of  warehouses 
on  either  side,  so  no  one  will  see  us  climb  over  that.  Well, 
we  get  into  the  coal-hole — " 

"Blow  the  coal-hole  !"  cried  Ted.     "You  never  told 


JOHN  MATURES    HIS    SCHEME.  27 J 

me  anything  of  that.  What  a  precious  mess  I  shall  get 
into,  and  look  at  my  light  trousers  ? " 

"  What's  trousers  when  one's  on  the  eve  of  a  great  dis- 
covery ! "  said  John  ;  "  for,  Ted,  if  we  only  make  this  an- 
swer, won't  you  be  able  to  buy  dozens  of  pairs,  and  have 
them  made  by  the  Prince  of  Wales's  tailor  ? " 

"That's  all  very  fine,"  answered  Ted;  "but  if  it  doesn't 
answer,  my  trousers  are  done  for,  and  I  shall  get  into  no 
end  of  a  row.  Besides,  I  shouldn't  like  walking  back  into 
Fellrow  looking  like  a  coal-heaver." 

"  I'll  lend  you  an  old  pair  of  mine,"  said  John,  "and 
wear  my  own  black  ones.  Now,  let  me  go  on :  we  shall 
leave  this  soon  after  eight ;  the  man  shuts  up  the  shop  then ; 
and  uncle  said  you  and  I  might  go  out  for  a  stroll.  We 
smuggle  out  the  battery  done  up  in  brown  paper ;  it'll  be 
dusky  by  that  time ;  besides,  I'm  not  too  proud  to  carry  a 
parcel.  We  get  over  the  wall  and  into  the  coal-hole ;  then 
we  pile  the  coals  up  as  high  as  we  can — " 

"  I  suppose  you've  got  an  old  pair  of  gloves  to  lend  a 
fellow?"  said  Ted,  looking  rather  woefully  at  his  hands. 
He  didn't  quite  like  the  adventure  into  which  John  was 
leading  him,  as  well  as  he  had  thought  he  should ;  there 
had  been  nothing  said  about  the  coal-hole  that  day  at 
Fellrow.     John  nodded,  and  went  on  : 

"  Then  there's  this  rope  ;  you  see  I've  made  a  noose. 
Well,  there's  an  iron  arm  runs  out  from  the  school-house, 
just  by  the  window ;  it  held  a  lamp  once,  but  they  thought 
it   wasn't    needed — they're  precious  stingy  here  with  the 


272  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

gas  ;  all  the  better  for  us.  We  throw  the  noose  round  it, 
in  case  the  coals  don't  lift  us  high  enough,  pull  ourselves 
up  by  the  rope,  get  through  the  window,  and  there  we  are ! 
there's  the  machine  we're  to  make  into  a  man  !  there's  the 
motive  force  with  us  that's  to  galvanize  it  into  life !  No- 
body in  town  has  the  least  idea  what  we're  about ;  and 
when  we  come  back  to  supper,  we  shall  be  able  to  tell 
my  uncle  that  we've  made  an  experiment  which  is  to 
bring  us  in  thousands !  I  say,  won't  he  open  his  eyes ! 
He  ought  to  stand  champagne ;  and  my  opinion  is,  the 
least  the  town  can  do  is  to  erect  us  statues  in  the  market- 
place." 

"  Isn't  there  any  one  to  take  care  of  the  rooms  ? "  asked 
Ted.  "  I  thought  there  was  a  Mrs.  Knight  who  lived 
there?" 

"She's  up  at  the  top  somewhere,"  said  John;  "all  the 
rooms  below  are  given  up  to  the  school."  In  this  Master 
John  was  wrong,  Mrs.  Knight  having  a  very  cosy  little 
sitting-room  on  the  ground-floor,  opening  right  out  of  the 
larger  one  appropriated  to  the  students.  "  She  won't  hear 
anything  of  us,  come  in,"  he  continued ;  we  shall  have 
the  place  all  to  ourselves,  and  nobody  any  the  wiser." 

They  were  now  summoned  to  dinner,  where  Knaggs 
sat,  eating  as  much  and  saying  as  little  as  usual.  Direct- 
ly after,  he  went  to  dress,  and  came  down  presently,  look- 
ing as  Johi.  said,  as  much  like  a  swell  as  he  knew  how, 
and,  with  a  little  ostentation,  gave  several  keys  to  Mr. 
Sumner.     "  I've  locked  up  all  I  can,  sir,"  he  said ;  "  so,  if 


JOHN  MATURES   HIS    SCHEME.  273 

murder's  done  before  I  come  back,  I'm  not  responsible." 
Then  he  went  away,  leaving  John  and  Ted  masters  of  the 
situation. 

Mr.  Sumner  was  not  very  much  afraid  of  leaving  thera 
in  the  shop.  By  this  time  he  had  begun  to  understand 
John  better,  and  to  like  him  more  than  he  had  at  first 
thought  he  could  ever  do.  He  had  charged  John  not  to 
open  any  of  the  drawers,  nor  to  attempt,  if  any  one  came 
in  for  medicine,  to  sell  them  any  but  what  was  ready  made 
and  labelled ;  and  he  was  not  afraid  that  John  would 
disobey  him.  As  to  the  galvanic  battery,  he  had  never 
given  that  a  thought ;  if  he  had,  he  would  have  only  said 
that  if  John  meddled  with  it  he  would  be  punished  for 
meddling,  and  therefore  he  went  on  his  short  afternoon 
round  without  any  misgivings.  Not  many  people  came 
into  the  shop,  but  these  John  served  with  a  gravity  that 
was  grand  to  see.  As  Ted  told  him,  he  would  make 
a  capital  doctor,  by-and-by,  if  looks  went  for  anything  ; 
and  the  afternoon  and  evening  passed  on  till  eight 
o'clock  came  round,  and  Mr.  Sumner  told  Black  to  put 
up  the  shutters,  and  advised  Ted  and  John  to  go  out  for 
a  stroll. 

He  went  out  himself,  as  he  generally  did  of  an  evening, 
to  the  reading-room  ;  and,  as  soon  as  Black  was  out  of  the 
way,  Ted  and  John  began  to  get  ready  to  go  too.  The 
little  steam-engine  and  other  matters  were  already  packed 
up,  and  by  standing  on  the  shop  shelves  they  were  able  to 
reach   the   battery,  and  then,  wrapping  that  up   in  brown 


274  THE    B0Y    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

paper,  John  put  his  treasure  carefully  under  his  arm,  and 
the  two  walked  out,  and  in  a  very  few  minutes  were  in  the 
court-yard,  under  the  small  window  that  opened  into  Mr. 
Ray's  studio. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

HOW    JOHN    AND    TED    WERE   ELECTRIFIED   INSTEAD   OF 
ELECTRIFYING. 

OIMON  STONE  was  busy  that  evening  in  the  School 
^  of  Art.  He  had  been  at  work  in  a  gentleman's  garden 
all  day,  and,  having  been  home  to  tea,  had  now  come  round 
to  sweep  out  the  school,  ready  for  the  next  morning.  Si- 
mon rather  liked  this  employment.  He  went  to  work 
much  as  if  he  had  been  sweeping  gravel  paths,  and  the  bits 
of  paper  scattered  on  the  floor  were  so  many  dead  leaves. 
The  room  was  very  dusty  to-night,  and  Simon  opened  one 
of  the  large  windows  at  the  side  on  that  account.  It  was 
growing  dusk,  so  he  lit  the  gas  that  he  might  see  what  he 
was  about,  and  went  on  steadily  doing  his  work,  better, 
it  must  be  owned,  than  any  of  the  girls  whom  Mrs. 
Knight  employed  had  ever  performed  it. 

As  I  have  said  before,  there  were  three  large  windows 
on  one  side  of  the  schoolroom,  and  these  were  the  only 
light  k  had,  with  the  exception  of  the  small  window  in 
Mr.  Ray's  studio ;  but  that,  you  will  notice,  was  parted  off 
from  the  larger  room.     Through  these  windows  you  could 


276  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

see  the  workroom  of  Mrs.  Vesey,  the  best  dressmaker  in 
the  town.  She  employed  a  great  many  girls,  and  some- 
times— not  often — they  were  kept  at  work  rather  late,  so 
that  John  could  look  up  from  his  drawing  and  watch  them, 
The  workroom  was  lit  by  a  range  of  windows,  and,  of 
course,  when  the  light  was  failing,  the  girls  drew  near  these 
windows.  One,  in  particular,  had  a  sewing-machine. 
John  never  saw  her  employed  at  that  without  thinking  how 
he  could  improve  it,  and  resolving,  when  he  had  perfected 
his  machine-man,  to  try  what  he  could  do  with  a  machine- 
needlewoman,  who  should  do  as  much  work  as  a  dozen 
machines  put  together. 

The  roof  of  the  workroom,  which  was  on  the  first  floor, 
was  red-tiled,  and,  rising  from  a  gutter,  sloped  upwards  to 
a  ridge  in  the  centre.  At  the  end  of  the  room  was  a  smaller 
apartment,  occupied  by  Mrs.  Vesey  herself;  and,  as  she 
kept  here  the  dresses  which  were  not  yet  commenced, 
along  with  ribbons,  lace,  or  trimmings,  she  always  locked 
it  up  at  night  when  work  was  over. 

The  whole  building  was  old,  and  so,  indeed,  was  the 
School  of  Art,  which  had  been  originally  the  assembly- 
rooms,  where  the  county  balls  were  held ;  but  they  didn't 
hold  county  balls  in  the  town  now,  and  the  owner  of  the 
rooms — a  well-to-do  brewer — found  he  could  get  a  better 
rent  for  them  by  letting  them  to  the  town  for  a  school, 
which  hurt  Mrs.  Vesey's  trade,  and,  she  said,  showed  a 
great  want  of  public  spirit.  However,  that  didn't  trouble 
the  brewer — -perhaps  his  dancing-days  were  over ;   but,  aa 


JOHN   AND    TED    ELECTRIFIED.  277 

the  school  building  showed  evident  signs  of  not  being  so 
strong  as  it  had  been,  he  shored  up  the  walls  on  either  side, 
and,  between  Mrs.  Vesey's  workroom  and  the  school,  great 
beams  were  placed,  at  the  joint  expense  of  himself  and  her 
landlord,  so  that  the  two  old  buildings  helped  to  keep  up 
each  other — just  as  a  couple  of  elderly  people  might  do, 
who  would  both  get  on  the  better  for  taking  care  of  one 
another. 

Simon  swept  on,  and  presently  he  came  to  a  sheet  of 
paper,  near  the  place  where  John  always  sat  to  draw,  and, 
picking  it  up,  saw  a  very  fair  likeness  of  himself,  with 
something  which  Simon  set  down  as  a  trap  fastened  to  his 
foot.  "  That  thar  young  chap  has  done  it  that's  allers  got 
so  much  tew  say,  an'  thinks  no  folks  i'  the  world  had  brains 
before  he  cum  into  it.  I  s'pose  that's  how  he'd  keep  work- 
in'  people  held  fast,  so  as  they  shouldn't  go  about  as  quick 
as  their  betters.  He's  a  good  un,  he  is  ;  I  on'y  wish  I  wor 
his  marster — I  lay  I'd  teach  him  a  thing  or  tew." 

Simon  could  never  forgive  John's  wishing  to  supersede 
men  by  machinery.  The  prejudice  has  always  been  com- 
mon enough  amongst  those  of  Simon's  class,  though  it  was 
rather  hard  that  John  should  have  called  it  up,  as  his  in- 
tentions were  at  least  kind  ones.  The  old  man  went  on 
with  his  sweeping  in  the  same  manner  as  before,  but  pres- 
ently desisted  when  he  heard  a  murmur  of  female  voices 
and  laughter  at  the  outer  door. 

"  It's  Mrs.  Bligh,  I  lay,"  he  said  ;  "  she's  a  rare  jolly  un. 
What's  brought  her  here?     An'  thar's  a  pack  o'  gals  with 


278  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

her,  a-chatterin'  an'  buzzin'  like  so  many  bees,  on'y  all  the 
work  they  do  is  playin'."  Simon  had  a  great  dislike  to  girla 
— he  liked  them  rather  worse  than  he  did  boys,  and,  as  he 
opened  the  door,  he  was  not  at  all  pleased  to  see  several 
young  ladies  with  Mrs.  Bligh. 

They  had  been  out  all  the  afternoon  sketching,  then 
had  gone  in  and  taken  tea  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  pu- 
pils, and  now  had  come  to  leave  their  drawing-boards  at 
the  school.  It  was  beginning  to  rain  a  little,  so  Mrs.  Bligh 
suggested  that  they  should  all  go  into  Mrs.  Knight's  room 
and  wait,  after  which  she  would  take  them  to  their  different 
homes.  They  all  came  in,  laughing  and  talking,  till  Si- 
mon's grim,  sour  face  looked  sourer  and  grimmer  than  ever, 
and  swept  past  him  into  Mrs.  Knight's  little  room,  leaving 
him  to  go  on  with  his  sweeping. 

Simon  was  disgusted  at  the  noise  they  made.  One  of 
them  in  walking  past  had  scattered  the  little  dust-heap  he 
had  swept  together.  "  It's  no  use  goin'  on  with  a  pack  o' 
whirligigs  flyin'  about  like  that,"  said  Simon  ;  "  I'll  go  into 
Mr.  Ray's  room,  an'  see  if  I  can  be  let  in  peace  there." 

So  he  did — lowering  the  gas  in  the  large  room,  for  he 
was  a  careful  creature,  and  not  lighting  it  in  the  smaller 
one  directly,  as  voices  outside  struck  on  his  ear,  and  he 
listened  attentively. 

"  It's  precious  cold  waiting  here,"  was  the  first  he  heard, 
"and  it's  beginning  to  rain.  I  say,  be  quick,  and  shy  up 
the  rope,  and  let's  get  in."  It  was  Ted  who  spoke,  and 
Simon,  not  knowing  the  voice,  set  it  down  as  a  burglar's. 


JOHN  AND    TED    ELECTRIFIED.         279 

There  was  very  little  in  the  school  to  steal — no  robbers 
could  do  very  much  with  casts  or  drawing-boards  ;  but  Si- 
mon did  not  think  of  that — all  he  did  think  of  was  how  to 
trap  the  thieves,  and,  to  use  his  own  expression,  "  sarve 
them  out." 

How  thankful  he  was  that  he  had  not  lit  the  gas,  sc 
that  the  parties  outside  might  have  no  indication  of  hif 
presence.  It  was  still  light  enough  for  him  to  see  the  po- 
sition of  things  ;  and  as  his  eye  fell  on  the  wooden  figure — 
such  a  strange,  stiff  likeness  of  himself — a  smile,  such  a? 
had  not  shone  on  Simon's  face  for  years,  lit  it  up  now 
About  a  couple  of  feet  from  this  figure  was  a  large,  ola 
screen,  behind  which  was  stowed  away  a  heap  of  miscella- 
neous lumber.  Simon  was  strong  and  wiry,  if  old,  and  he 
lifted  the  wooden  resemblance  of  himself  behind  this  screen, 
and  then  took  his  place  on  the  platform  in  precisely  the 
same  attitude  that  he  had  occupied.  The  basket  and  spade 
were  by  him  ;  he  pulled  his  shaggy,  grey  hair  over  his  fore- 
head, tilted  his  hat  forward,  and  there  he  was — to  all  ap- 
pearance the  lay-figure  dressed  up  in  his  own  old  clothes. 

"  They'll  know  thats  here,"  he  thought.  "  When  folks 
come  to  break  into  a  place,  I  reckon  they  pretty  well  know 
what  they've  got  tew  expect.  I  wonder  if  they'd  any  notion 
of  running  away  with  it.  If  they  dew  try  that  on,  they'll 
find  they've  got  a  troublesome  customer." 

From  behind  the  screen  he  had  brought  forward  a  large 
stick,  which  belonged  to  Mr.  Ray.  This  he  dropped  at  his 
feet ;  "  Ready,  if  it's  wanted,"  he  said  to  himself,  and  then 


280  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

remained  grim  and  immovable  as  if  he  were  wood 
indeed. 

There  was  more  whispering  outside,  then  a  shadow 
thrown  against  the  glass,  as  some  one  seemed  raising  him- 
self against  the  wall ;  then  the  long  narrow  window  was 
pushed  up,  with  some  difficulty  apparently,  for  he  heard  a 
voice  that  this  time  he  recognized,  crying  out,  "  It's  precious 
hard  to  get  in.  Now,  mind  how  you  hand  up  the  things 
when  once  I'm  on  the  window-ledge." 

"  Marster  Ashdell,"  said  Simon  to  himself;  "  what  wick- 
edness is  he  arter  now  ?  His  fine  talk  an'  his  plannin'  and 
schemin'  seems  tew  hev  brought  him  to  summut." 

Presently  John  was  on  the  window-ledge.  Simon's  head 
was  turned  from  it  just  as  the  lay  figure's  had  been,  so  that 
he  could  see  nothing  of  his  movements  ;  he  could  hear  them, 
however — he  seemed  to  be  pulling  up  something,  and  Simon 
greatly  wondered  what  it  could  be.  He  could  hardly  sus- 
pect him  of  stealing,  but  made  up  his  mind  he  was  bent  on 
some  wickedness  or  other,  for  which,  if  possible,  he  would 
punish  him.  Presently  John  dropped  on  the  ground  inside, 
and  somebody  else  appeared  to  be  at  the  window,  and  after- 
wards dropped  too. 

"  I  hope  we  haven't  hurt  them,"  said  John,  speaking  of 
the  battery  and  the  steam-engine  as  tenderly  as  if  they 
were  live  things.  Then  he  stooped  down  and  appeared  to 
examine  something. 

The  rain  was  leaving  off,  and  the  moon  shone  full  into 
the   room  with  a  pale,  watery  light,  but  still  sufficient  to 


JOHN   AND    TED    ELECTRIFIED.         28 1 

guide  John  in  his  operations.  "  We  sha'n't  want  a  light, '" 
he  said,  "  which  is  lucky, — it  might  show  through  the  win- 
dow. Get  the  matches  handy ;  I  won't  set  the  spirits  going 
till  I've  got  everything  placed  ready." 

"  They've  come  here  tew  hev  a  bout  o'  drinkin',"  said 
Simon  to  himself.  "  Tew  think  of  a  boy  like  that  thar  goin' 
in  for  anythin'  of  the  kind.  I  wonder  if  it's  gin  he's  brought 
with  him.  Whatever  it  is,  I  lay  it'll  do  me  a  sight  more 
good  nor  it  will  him." 

He  kept  as  still  as  ever,  never  turning  his  head,  though 
he  was  longing  to  see  what  bottles  had  been  brought. 
Presently  he  heard  the  clinking  of  glass  and  the  clatter 
of  metal,  as  John  poured  the  spirits  of  wine  into  his  engine. 
"They're  goin' tew  hev  a  reg'lar  good  supper!  They've 
never  come  by  it  honestly,  or  they  wouldn't  get  in  here  to 
sat  it.  The  tarnation  little  vagabones !  I  wonder  now 
what  it  is  they've  bin  layin'  hold  on." 

Simon's  mouth  watered,  but  he  never  moved.  Pres- 
ently John  came  near  him,  followed  by  his  friend.  Simon 
hoped  they  were  going  to  spread  their  banquet  at  his  feet ; 
they  were  carrying  something,  but,  without  lowering  his 
head,  he  could  not  see  what.  Presently  Ted  said — "  Now 
for  your  Frankenstein,  John." 

"  That's  a  new  kind  of  meat,"  thought  Simon  ;  "  I  never 
heerd  tell  on  that  afore.     I  hope  it's  good." 

"  Don't  talk,"  said  John  ;  "  I  feel  so  dreadfully  excited." 

"  Never  mind,  we  shall  soon  see  whether  or  not  you're 
to  be  another  Prometheus.     Have  you  got  everything  you 


282  THE   BOY    WITH-  AN  IDEA. 

want?     Now,  I  suppose  I'd  better  leave  you  to  put  the  fin 
ishing  touches  yourself." 

"Yes,  please,"  said  John,  in  a  voice  that  fairly  quivered 
with  emotion.     "  I'd  rather  be  left  all  to  myself  now.     Oh 
Ted,  if  it  should  do!" 

"  Seems  in  a  hurry  for  his  supper,"  thought  Simon. 
"  Thar'll  be  more  tew  eat  on  it  than  he  reckons  on." 

John  went  to  work  with  trembling  hands.  Ted  sat  on 
a  low  stool  at  a  little  distance,  watching  him.  "  I  wonder 
if  he'll  make  the  dummy  move  at  all,"  he  thought.  "  Sup- 
pose it  should,  after  all.  Something  might  come  of  it, 
though  not  so  much  as  Ashdell  expects." 

The  steam-engine  turned  and  fizzed,  and  at  last  moved 
the  handle  of  the  battery.  "  He's  a  cookin'  somethin'," 
thought  Simon,  longing  to  see  what  it  all  was  at  his  feet. 
John's  heart  leaped  within  him.  "  That's  all  right,  so  far. 
Now  to  connect  the  battery  with  the  figure  ; "  and  then  he 
began  to  attach  a  wire  that  he  had  wound  round  the  gal- 
vanic machine  around  the  leg  of  the  figure  before  him. 

That  was  too  much  !  In  an  instant  the  figure  seemed 
endowed  with  life.  It  had  seized  him  by  the  collar  of  his 
jacket,  and  was  beating  him  with  the  regularity  of  clock 
work,  and  with  a  force  that  spoke  wonders  for  the  effect  of 
the  galvanic  machine.  It  had  a  stick  in  its  hand,  and  it 
laid  that  stick  on  with,  as  John  thought,  ten-men  power — 
as  if  it  were  threshing  wheat,  or  knocking  the  dust  out  of  a 
carpet,  instead  of  beating  a  boy.  John  shrieked,  partlv 
with  pain,  but  far  more  with  terror.     Had  he  only  called 


JOHN   AND    TED    ELECTRIFIED.         283 

this  dreadful  thing  to  life  to  be  murdered  by  it !  Would  it 
never  leave  off!  Couldn't  it  be  made  to  feel  that  it  was 
not  endowed  with  the  power  of  movement  merely  to  de- 
stroy its  creator !  He  called  on  Ted  to  help  him,  but  Ted 
sat  mute  and  almost  paralyzed  with  fear.  He  wished  he 
had  not  made  that  joke  about  Frankenstein  ;  he  wished  he 
had  never  meddled  at  all  in  this  matter — there  was  some- 
thing wrong  here.  John  had  been  presumptuous,  and  inter- 
fered with  things  that  he  had  no  right  to  meddle  with,  and 
this  was  how  he  was  being  punished. 

"  Oh !  oh  !  oh  !  let  me  go  !  let  me  go  !  I'll  never  try  to 
make  anything  come  to  life  again.  Oh !  oh !  Ted  can't 
you  pull  the  galvanic  battery  away,  or  stop  the  steam- 
engine  ! "  cried  John,  who  firmly  believed  that  his  experi- 
ment had  only  been  too  successful.  "  I  shall  be  killed 
outright,  if  you  don't." 

"  I'm  afraid  to  move — I'm  afraid  to  lay  a  finger  on  it !  * 
cried  Ted.     "As  like  as  not  it'll  tear  me  to  pieces  ! " 

"  Oh  !  you  coward,  Ted !  You  don't  care  about  it  tear- 
ing me!  I  shall  be  smashed  into  a  jelly! — I'm  sore  all 
over !  Oh,  Ted  !  if  you'd  got  into  such  a  mess  as  this,  I'd 
have  stood  by  you  !  "  cried  John. 

So  he  would.  Ted  felt  sure  of  that,  and  he  nerved  him- 
self to  attempt  his  friend's  rescue.  To  do  him  justice,  if, 
like  John,  he  had  imagined  that  it  was  nothing  but  a  ma- 
chine with  which  he  had  to  deal,  he  would  have  kicked  the 
battery  on  one  side,  and  wrested  his  friend  from  the  clutch 
of  the  lay  figure.     But  Ted  was  a  little  superstitious  and 


284  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

imaginative,  and  he  felt  there  was  something  "uncanny, "as 
the  Scotch  say,  in  the  whole  affair.  The  cold,  watery  mcon- 
Jight,  the  casts  and  sketches  around,  the  stillness  of  the 
deserted  studio,  only  broken  by  John's  cries  and  the 
measured  "  thud !  thud !  "  of  the  stick,  all  added  to  this 
impression.  But  he  mastered  his  fears  enough  to  step  for- 
ward and  try  to  pull  John  from  the  grasp  of  the  grim  ghost 
that  he  had  raised. 

In  doing  so,  without  meaning  it,  he  kicked  the  engine 
and  the  machine  on  one  side.  John  heard  the  movement, 
and  gasped  out,  "Now,  perhaps,  he'll  leave  off!"  which 
Simon  did,  standing  stiff  and  rigid  as  the  lay  figure  itself, 
for  Mrs.  Bligh  and  her  party  of  demoiselles  had  entered 
the  studio,  and  Simon  saw  them,  which  the  two  unhappy 
boys  at  first  did  not. 

The  girls  were  almost  as  much  frightened  at  first  as 
Ted  and  John.  Was  it  really  the  lay  figure  that  was  mak- 
ing the  boy  it  held  like  a  vice  shriek  so  fearfully  ?  Mrs. 
Bligh  was  not  frightened  at  all — she  guessed,  directly,  the 
trick  Simon  had  played,  and  rather  enjoyed  it,  though  she 
did  not  recognize  John's  voice,  never  having  heard  it  under 
similar  circumstances  before.  She  imagined  a  couple  of 
lads  had  been  breaking  in  with  the  intention  of  helping 
themselves  to  anything  portable  they  could  find  in  the 
school  that  might  be  worth  taking,  and  that  Simon  had 
caught  and  punished  them,  and  she  quite  approved  of  his 
doing  so.  She  thought  they  had  been  nearly  punished 
enough,  but  she  could   not  help  giving  them  a    further 


yOHN   AND    TED    ELECTRIFIED.         285 

fright,  and  therefore  she  said,  in  very  distinct  tones — "I 
think  now  we  have  only  got  to  send  for  the  policeman, 
and  give  these  young  men  in  charge  for  breaking  into  thf 
premises." 

The  policeman !  Ted  looked  up  and  saw,  as  he  after- 
wards expressed  it,  "  a  whole  lot  of  women  "  standing  like 
accusing  witnesses  of  the  crime  he  and  John  had  beer 
guilty  of.  They  had  been  breaking  into  a  house !  they 
should  be  had  up  before  a  magistrate,  sent  for  trial  to  the 
sessions,  have  a  jury  and  a  judge,  and  all  the  dreadful 
force  of  the  law  arrayed  against  them  !  He  saw  it  all  in 
a  moment — the  disgrace,  the  shame,  and  what  would  be 
almost  as  bad,  the  laughter !  What  little  sense  Ted  had 
left  in  him  was  fairly  scared  away  now,  and  the  only 
thought  that  presented  itself  was  the  possibility  of  escape. 
"  Let's  hook  it ! "  he  cried,  frantically,  and  looked  wildly  up 
at  the  window  by  which  they  had  entered  ;  but  Mrs.  Bligh 
and  her  pupils  had  arranged  themselves  below  that,  so 
escape  that  way  was  impossible.  He  dashed  aside  the 
curtain  that  screened  the  studio  from  the  school-room, 
and,  seizing  John  by  the  arm,  ran  forward  with  the  vague 
idea  of  making  his  escape  by  the  door.  No  chance  !  there 
stood  Mrs.  Knight  just  before  them  with  a  lighted  candle 
in  her  hand.  A  gust  of  the  cool  evening  air  came  in 
through  the  window  Simon  had  left  open,  and  Ted  rushed 
towards  that,  still  dragging  John,  who  was  so  bewildered 
by  his  bruises  as  to  be  content  for  once  to  play  a  secondary 
part. 


286  THE  BOY  WITH  AN  IDEA. 

In  a  second  he  was  on  the  desks,  then  on  the  window 
ledge,  above  them,  and  holding  out  a  helping  hand  to  John 
Then,  where  should  they  go  ?  Below  the  window  was  a 
yard  walled  in  at  either  end.  Ted  rushed  forward  desper- 
ately, and  was  on  one  of  the  beams  that  shored  up  the  two 
buildings.  He  crawled  along  it  somehow,  and  was  in  the 
gutter,  John  following  him  mechanically,  climbing  along 
with  hands  and  feet,  almost  as  instinctively  as  a  monkey 
does,  sensible  of  nothing  but  that  he  was  leaving  behind 
the  horrible  mechanism  which  had  beaten  him  so  fearfully. 
On  they  went — luckily  the  gutter  was  broad  and  firm,  till 
at  last  they  reached  the  skylight  that  lit  Mrs.  Vesey's  little 
room.  Ted  thought  he  heard  voices  behind  him — detec- 
tion, capture,  all  seemed  imminent ;  in  reality,  it  was  only 
Mrs.  Bligh,  now  in  the  school-room,  calling  out,  as  she 
tried  to  mount  the  window  and  look  after  them — "  Bless 
those  boys  !  I  hope  they  won't  break  their  necks."  Hardly 
conscious  of  what  he  did,  he  dashed  one  of  the  panes  of 
the  skylight  open,  and  sprang  inside,  followed  by  John, 
who  rushed  giddily  forward,  and  then  fell  senseless  at  his 
feet 


CONCLUSION. 

HOW   JOHN    MISSED    HIS    FOOTING   AND    FOUND    HIS    SENSES 

"\  yf"  R.  SUMNER  saw  nothing  of  his  nephew  that  night, 
■*•»■*■  neither  did  he  of  his  nephew's  friend.  He  went  to 
the  river  and  inquired  of  the  boatmen  if  they  had  seen  any 
thing  of  the  two  lads  he  described  :  but  no  one  could  give 
him  any  information  about  them.  Everything  in  the  shop 
seemed  just  as  he  had  left  it,  and  he  knew  that  John,  let 
him  do  his  best,  would  not  have  found  it  very  easy  to  do 
much  harm  to  any  one.  At  last  he  missed  the  galvanic- 
battery,  and  then  it  occurred  to  him  that  they  might  have 
taken  it  away  to  make  some  experiment  with,  have  injured 
it,  and  afraid  to  return.  Possibly  Master  Harley  had  gone 
home  to  ask  his  father  for  money  to  replace  it  with. 

"  I  hope  his  father  will  stop  it  out  of  his  pocket-money," 
thought  the  old  doctor.  "  I  suppose  Master  John  has  made 
him  a  convert  to  one  of  his  glorious  '  ideas.' "  However, 
he  went  to  the  different  police  stations  and  made  inquiries, 
but  still  without  any  result.  He  never  thought  of  going  to 
the  School  of  Art,  as  it  was  not  an  open  night,  or  he  might 
have   heard    something   that   would  have  set  him  on  the 


288  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

track  of  the  fugitives ;  so  at  last  he  gave  matters  up  and 
went  home,  expecting  to  see  Master  John  to-morrow  with 
a  very  penitent  face,  and  possibly  the  remains  of  his  gal 
vanic-battery  under  his  arm. 

He  went  to  bed — there  was  the  night-bell  if  John  and 
his  friend  did  return.  They  could  make  themselves  heard 
by  that,  and  he  slept  undisturbed  till  the  morning, 
when  Knaggs  made  his  appearance,  and,  on  hearing  the 
account  of  John's  disappearance  along  with  the  battery, 
received  it  as  a  matter  of  course, — indeed  with  rather  an 
appearance  of  satisfaction.  He  had  expected  that  some- 
thing would  go  wrong  during  his  absence,  and  it  was 
rather  a  relief  to  find  that  his  expectations  were  verified, 
and  he  sat  down  and  ate  his  breakfast  with  a  better  appe- 
tite than  ever. 

The  two  unhappy  creatures  in  Mrs.  Vesey's  work- 
room did  not  spend  nearly  so  comfortable  a  night  as  Mr. 
Sumner.  John  himself  had  hurt  his  head  seriously  in 
falling,  and  lay  for  a  long  time  without  speaking.  Ted 
made  him  as  comfortable  as  he  could;  took  off  his  jacket 
and  placed  it  as  a  pillow  for  him,  and  laid  the  table  cover 
over  him  for  a  quilt ;  then  he  sat  down  by  his  side,  feeling 
at  liberty  to  indulge  his  reflections,  which  were  none  of  the 
pleasantest.  He  had  tried  the  door,  and  found  it  locked 
on  the  other  side.  There  was  no  getting  out  that  way. 
If  they  got  out  and  went  along  the  gutter,  and  diopped  into 
the  yard — not  at  all  an  easy  thing  to  do — still  they  must 
be  penned  in  by  the  high  walls  on  either  side,  by  no  means 


CONCLUSION.  289 

ao  easy  to  surmount  as  Mrs.  Bligh  imagined,  she  having 
given  them  credit,  when  she  looked  into  the  yard  after 
them,  for  having  escaped  that  way.  She  had  certainly 
said  they  must  be  as  good  at  climbing  as  cats,  and  if  they 
could  have  got  over  those  walls  they  would  have  been. 
No — there  was  no  escape ;  nothing  for  it  but  to  remain 
where  they  were,  and  the  next  morning  be  taken  before 
magistrates.  Ted  was  very  miserable ;  all  the  more  mis- 
erable that  John  for  a  long  time  was  unconscious  and 
speechless,  and  when  he  did  speak  it  was  in  a  rambling,  in- 
coherent manner,  that  was  almost  more  distressing  than  his 
silence.  Ted  had  never  been  so  frightened  in  his  life  ;  he 
thought  the  night  would  never  end,  and  at  last,  fairly  worn 
out  by  fright  and  anxiety,  he  fell  into  a  broken  and  restless 
sleep,  from  which  he  was  awoke  by  the  murmur  of  voices 
in  the  room  outside. 

He  started  up  in  affright.  Were  the  police  coming 
to  take  him  as  a  burglar?  He  saw  himself  in  imagination 
being  dragged  through  the  streets,  and  standing  before 
the  magistrates,  and  what  on  earth  could  he  say  in  his 
defence  ?  Only  that  he  had  been  concerned  in  a  very 
foolish  trick,  of  which  he  was  now  thoroughly  ashamed. 
It  was  broad  daylight  now ;  the  sun  was  shining  through 
the  skylight  upon  John,  as  he  lay  on  the  ground  looking 
flushed,  and  strange,  and  unconscious  of  all  that  was 
going  on.  Ted  almost  wished  he  was  so  too.  Now  it 
seemed  as  if  the  whole  responsibility  of  the  affair  rested 
upon  him.     It  would  be  no  use  people  asking  anything  of 

*9 


2go  THE    BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

John ;  so  they  would  be  sure  to  ask  him,  and  what  evei 
should  he  say  ?  In  another  moment  the  key  was  in  the 
lock.  Ted  sprang  to  his  feet ;  they  would  have  him  now 
for  a  certainty ;  then  the  door  was  opened,  and  a  sharp- 
nosed,  bright-eyed  face  peeped  in ;  it  was  Mrs.  Vese/s, 
who  instantly,  and  with  a  scream,  closed  the  door  again. 

"Ifs  all  up!"  said  Ted.  "Now  she'll  send  for  the 
police — have  us  up  before  the  magistrates ;  no  doubt  they'll 
be  a  set  of  muffs — they  mostly  are — and  won't  let  me  off 
with  a  wigging,  or  think  that  I've  been  served  out  enough 
as  it  is.  There  they  are !  a  lot  of  women,  I  suppose,  by  the 
screeching.  That's  right ;  oh  !  I'm  a  murderer,  am  I  ?  near- 
ly killed  old  Simon  ?  who's  he,  I  wonder  ?  Go  on,  pitch  it 
strong ;  there's  nothing  like  it  while  you're  about  it.  Six 
of  us,  were  there  ?  Oh !  I  wonder  who's  been  spreading 
all  those  precious  lies." 

The  truth  was,  that  one  of  the  young  ladies  who  work- 
ed for  Mrs.  Vesey  was  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Knight's,  and  had 
heard  from  her  aunt  that  morning  an  exaggerated  account 
ol  the  invasion  of  the  school  the  preceding  night.  Mrs. 
Knight,  like  Mrs.  Bligh,  had  had  no  time  to  recognize  the 
boys  who  had  broken  in  and  torn  so  wildly  out  again ;  and 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  she  magnified  both  their 
numbers  and  their  size.  The  story  lost  nothing  in  her 
niece's  mouth,  and  as  soon  as  she  came  to  the  workroom 
that  morning,  she  had  related  it  to  her  companions  and 
Mrs.  Vesey.  They  all  agreed  that  it  was  a  great  mercj 
the  burglars  had  not  paid  them  a  visit,  and   Mrs.  Vesej 


CONCLUSION.  291 

felt  especially  thankful  when  she  thought  of  the  treasures 
in  her  own  little  apartment.  It  was  very  natural  that 
when  she  opened  the  door  and  saw  two  miserable-looking 
objects — one  stretched  on  the  ground  with  an  ugly  cut  on 
his  forehead,  the  other  pale,  bruised,  and  haggard,  stand- 
ing by  him,  she  should  think  that  she  had  the  burglars  of 
the  night  before  her.  She  closed  the  door,  and  hesitated 
a  moment  as  to  whether  she  should  go  into  hysterics  or  run 
and  tell  what  she  had  seen.  Being  a  sensible  woman,  she 
took  the  latter  course,  and  as  the  young  ladies  supplied 
the  deficiencies  in  her  narrative  with  interjections  and 
s-eminiscences  of  the  terrors  of  the  night,  Ted  was  able  to 
hear  the  opinion  they  had  formed  of  him  ;  and  it  certainly 
was  true,  in  his  case,  that  listeners  do  not  hear  any  good 
of  themselves. 

There  is  no  knowing  what  turn  affairs  might  have 
taken.  Ted's  worst  fears  might  to  some  extent  have  been 
realized,  had  it  not  been  for  the  unexpected  appearance  of 
Mrs.  Bligh  upon  the  scene.  She  was  not  in  the  habit  of 
going  to  the  school  till  eleven,  but  she  intended  to  be  there 
earlier  that  morning  to  consult  with  Mrs.  Knight  as  to  the 
best  means  of  defending  the  school  against  similar  attacks 
in  future.  Simon  had  not  produced  the  galvanic-battery 
or  the  little  engine  the  preceding  evening,  having  some 
idea  that  they  were  a  portable  cooking  apparatus,  and 
thinking  that  they  might  be  useful  to  him.  Neither  had 
he  said  that  it  was  John  Ashdell  whom  he  had  cudgelled  so 
soundly.     Simon  thought  that  perhaps  neither  Mrs.  Bligh 


292  THE   BOY    WITH  AN  IDEA. 

nor  Mr.  Ray  would  approve  of  his  punishing  one  of  theii 
pupils  so  severely ;  therefore  the  lady  still  believed  that 
some  evil-disposed  boys  from  the  town  had  broken  into 
the  school,  and  thought  that  as  the  dressmaker's  premises 
were  as  much  unprotected  as  their  own,  it  would  be  only 
neighborly  to  give  her  a  caution  in  the  matter  on  her  way  to 
the  school.  This  was  what  brought  her  to  the  workroom 
this  morning,  and  her  presence  at  first  only  added  to  the 
tumult. 

"  Oh,  Mrs.  Bligh  !  " 
"  Oh,  good  gracious,  Mrs.  Bligh  !  " 
"  It's  a  mercy  we're  not  all  murdered ! " 
"  But  we  shall  be,  if  we  don't  mind  what  we're  about ! " 
"  They're  desperate,  and  won't  stand  at  anything ! " 
"  You  may  rely  upon  it,  they've  both  got  revolvers ! " 
"  So,  if  any  one's  to  be  shot,  let  it  be  the  police ! "  said 
Mrs.  Vesey,  who  was  famous  for  making  a  tight  bargain. 
"  It's  what  they're  paid  for,  and  their  duty  to  put  up  with." 

Mrs.  Bligh  looked  round  her — cool,  comfortable,  and 
self-possessed  as  usual.  That  very  look  had  a  wonderful 
effect  upon  the  commotion  around ;  she  raised  her  voice  a 
little,  and  said,  "  Please,  young  ladies,  let  Mrs.  Vesey  speak, 
and  then  I  may  have  a  chance  of  hearing  what  is  really 
wrong." 

They  were  all  quiet  then,  as  Mrs.  Bligh  had  expected 
they  would  be — as  she  would  have  told  any  one  who  might 
have  remarked  upon  it,  "  If  I  couldn't  manage  a  few  girls 
at  this  time  of  day,  I  should  like  to  know  what  I  could  do.' 


CONCLUSION.  293 

Mrs.  Vesey  told  her  story.  Two  ruffians  were  in  the 
other  room  ;  they  must  have  got  in  through  the  skyiight. 
She  remembered,  now,  the  cook,  Martha,  telling  her  she 
had  seen  some  broken  pieces  of  glass  in  the  yard  below. 
What  had  they  better  do  ? — what  would  Mrs.  Bligh  advise  ? 
She  was  too  frightened  herself  to  look  at  them. 

'*  If  they're  no  bigger  than  the  ruffians  I  saw  last  night, 
I  shouldn't  mind  looking,"  said  Mrs.  Bligh.  "  May  I  take 
a  peep  ? " 

There  was  a  shivering,  and  a  shrieking,  and  a  huddling 
together,  but  one  strong-minded  young  lady  said  she  didn't 
mind  going  in  with  Mrs.  Bligh  if  she  might  be  allowed  the 
tongs — perhaps  Mrs.  Bligh  would  like  the  poker?  That 
lady,  however,  declined  the  weapon,  and  gently  opening 
the  door  peeped  in.  She  looked  for  one  moment,  then 
stepped  into  the  room,  and  said  to  Mrs.  Vesey,  "  I  shall  be 
glad  if  you  will  come  too,  but  keep  those  girls  out." 

Mrs.  Vesey  hesitated,  but  her  curiosity  conquered  hei 
timidity.  She  went  in,  and  Mrs.  Bligh  at  once  shut  the 
door,  and  raised  the  head  of  the  figure  on  the  ground  and 
placed  it  gently  on  her  lap. 

"  Shall  I  send  for  a  policeman  ?  "  gasped  Mrs.  Vesey. 

"  No,  don't ;  send  for  a  doctor — Mr.  Sumner — " 

"He  may  be  dying,  but  he's  dangerous  for  all  that 
Shall  we  have  the  girls  in  and  handcuff  them  both  ? " 

"  No ;  don't ;  but  tell  one  of  them  to  get  the  poor 
fellows  some  tea." 

"  Oh,  good   gracious !  how   ever  you   can   pity   them  ? 


294  THE    BOY    WITH  AN   IDEA. 

Did    you   ever  see   such   a    young  villain    as   that    one 
looks?" 

This  was  flattering  to  Ted,  and  he  certainly  was  rather 

a  contrast  to  his  usual  gentlemanly  self. 

"  He'd  be  the  better  for  some  soap  and  water,"  said 
Mrs.  Bligh,  looking  at  him  critically ;  "  but  I  should  like 
some  vinegar  to  bathe  this  one's  head  with." 

"  I  can't  imagine  how  you  can  touch  such  low  crea- 
tures," said  Mrs.  Vesey.  "  I  never  saw  two  such  villan- 
ous  faces  in  my  life." 

"  Don't  you  know  who  they  are  ? "  said  Mrs.  Bligh 
"Then  I'll  tell  you.  It's  Mr.  Sumner's  nephew  and  e. 
young  gentleman  from  London.  They've  been  up  to  some 
nonsense,  but  we  don't  want  to  give  them  up  to  the  police 
for  all  that.  I  think  they're  punished  enough  as  it  is  ; 
and  if  I  were  you,  Mrs.  Vesey,  I'd  keep  this  matter  as 
quiet  as  I  could." 

If  ever  Ted  felt  grateful  to  any  one  in  his  life,  he  did  at 
that  moment  to  Mrs.  Bligh.  The  sound  of  her  hearty, 
cheery  voice  roused  even  poor  John  ;  and,  looking  up  at 
her  face  as  it  beamed  over  him,  he  had  a  dim  notion  that 
he  could  suggest  some  way  of  doctoring  himself,  and  said 
gently,  "  I've  got  an  '  idea.'  " 

"  Of  course  you  have,  my  poor  fellow,"  said  Mrs.  Bligh  ; 
"and  it's  to  be  hoped  it  isn't  quite  so  nonsensical  as 
the  one,  what  ever  it  was,  that  led  you  into  this  scrape." 

"But  I  won't  say,"  said  John,  more  gently  still,  that 
it's  a  correct  one." 


CONCLUSION.  295 

Mrs.  Bligh  looked  up  radiant.  "  He's  broken  his  head  ! " 
she  said,  joyfully,  "  but  he's  let  a  little  sense  into  it ! " 

So  John  had,  apparently  ;  and  it  was  high  time.  His 
uncle  came,  he  was  taken  home,  and  nursed  and  cared  for. 
His  mother  came  to  attend  him,  for  he  was  a  long  time  ill ; 
but  at  last  he  recovered,  to  be  a  wiser  if  a  sadder  boy. 
He  had  his  "  ideas  "  still,  and  a  great  many  of  them  were 
really  good  ones  ;  but  he  was  ready  to  allow  that  other 
people  might  have  good  ideas  too,  and  that  all  the  sense  in 
the  world  was  not  concentrated  in  John  Ashdell.  Ted,  too, 
had  a  little  of  the  conceit  taken  out  of  him,  and  he  certainly 
had  some  to  spare ;  and,  on  the  whole,  though  the  immediate 
consequences  of  that  night's  experiment  were  rather  un- 
pleasant ones,  Mr.  Sumner  always  considered  that  it  had 
turned  out  very  satisfactorily.  I  think  he  had  some  right 
to  say  so,  and  little  cause  to  regret  that  he  had  asked  his 
great-nephew  to  visit  Woodhurst ;  for  not  an  old  doctor  in 
the  kingdom  has  a  cleverer  young  partner,  or  more  ready  to 
make  the  best  use  of  his  own  talents,  more  disposed  to  learn 
all  that  the  wisdom  of  others  can  teach  him,  than  has  Mr. 
Sumner  in  his  great-nephew,  John  Ashdell. 


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